Star Ocean: Ashton's Story
by Moosashi
Summary: A novelization of the events of 'Star Ocean: The Second Story' through the eyes of Ashton Anchors, the very unlucky and dragon-possessed man.
1. The Trio is Formed

A.N. Wow. It's been a very long time since I began writing this story. I feel a bit nostalgic for uploading it finally. As the title says, this is Ashton's Story; it is a novelization of the events that occur in his life onward from the fateful encounter with Rena and the others. It is told through Ashton's perspective. It is _not_ an exact novelization. Some of the events contained within will differ from the actual game and show, however they won't obscure the story from its plot. I really hope you enjoy reading this!

* * *

A two-headed dragon?

Huh, maybe my luck just turned around.

Maybe this job will get me some money.

Maybe this will be the start of a new life for me.

Maybe a new life without misfortune is now within my grasp!

Maybe if I slay this dragon it will bring me fame.

Maybe.

Maybe, maybe, maybe…!

Probably not.

So is the life of me, Ashton Anchors—the unluckiest man in the world.

* * *

The town of Salva was calm that morning. Birds flew over the town, the sound of insects could be heard, and not a single person was up yet, other than the few town guards; it was completely serene. The rest of the fighting men were still asleep, so I figured that I'd take advantage of their slacking.

"Fighting men;" yes, that's the term the people of Expel coined for us. It's simple, really. They are men that fight for hire. I too was a "fighting man."

I walked down the dirt roads of Salva until I came to the large entrance of the drift. The guard seemed surprised that I was there so early in the morning, but let me pass anyways. My task was to slay a two-headed dragon that lived inside of the drift.

I made my way into the drift. It wasn't really a big place, and tracing the dragon proved to be quite simple. For one, there were large scratch marks throughout the tunnels. It was obvious what made these. And secondly, there was a giant sign with a crudely drawn picture of a dragon on it that said, "DANGER! DRAGON'S DEN AHEAD!" So I followed these convenient signs and eventually came face-to-face with the two-headed dragon.

To be frank, it was smaller than I had imagined. Half of it was blue, and the other half was red. I immediately engaged in combat with the beast, not giving it any warning of my presence. I was able to land a successful hit before the creature became aware of me. It gave out a loud roar that shook the caverns, and then proceeded to attack me. I was able to parry the dragon's attempts rather easily, and I attacked whenever I saw an opening. After a short while, the dragon began to tire. I figured that a little more fighting would completely exhaust the dragon, and then I would deliver the final blow. However, nobody ever mentioned that it was a _demon_ dragon…and what happened next was even more bizarre than that.

"Yeah! Get him!"

"Don't give up!"

"You've almost got him, darling!"

Those were the voices that came from behind me. I gave out a sigh and turned around to face the owners of those voices. Standing behind me was a group of three people. There was a strangely dressed lady wearing a very skimpy outfit, an even more strangely dressed man with blonde hair, and…

My eyes fell upon the young, thin, blue-haired girl that was with them. She had long pointed ears (yes, those were strange too, but…) and was wearing blue clothing that matched her hair. Her eyes were beautiful; a deep blue that gleamed like sapphires. I stared deep into those eyes and felt entranced. I wasn't sure what was happening to me. I felt my heart begin to beat faster and I…

"Look out! Behind you!" The blue-haired girl shouted while taking a step in my direction.

I snapped back into reality and quickly turned around only to see the dragon's heads swoop down at me. I put my arms in front of me, trying to shelter myself from the oncoming blow, but it never came. I didn't feel a thing, other than having my eyes dazzled by a bright flash. I hesitated for a moment, but finally brought my arms down. My sight was coming back and I could see the trio still standing there. I shook my head vigorously to regain full consciousness. Looking around, I noticed that the dragon was gone.

"Did you guys see where the dragon went?" I asked them curiously.

As I approached them, they backed up fearfully. I didn't understand why.

"Did you see where the dragon went?" I asked once again.

The blue-haired girl pointed at me, "your back…" she murmured.

I had no idea what she was talking about until I turned my head to look over my shoulder. Oh. It's a dragon's…head…I looked over my other shoulder. Oh. Another dragon head…

I gave out a loud shriek and ran frantically around in circles.

"Get it off, get it off, getitoffgetitoffgetitoff!" I screamed.

The group once more backed up at my reaction. I got a hold of myself and dashed in front of the ever-strangely dressed man, getting very close to his face.

"This is YOUR fault!" I exclaimed while pointing harshly at him.

He took a step back.

"Now wait just a minute…!" He started exasperatedly, "how is this my fault?" He started to sweat nervously.

I peered at him angrily.

"What do you mean, 'how is this my fault?' If you hadn't distracted me, I would have easily slain the dragon! And I wouldn't be stuck in this…this…"

"Awkward situation?"

I turned my attention to the skimpily dressed woman who had just interrupted me.

"Yes! Awkward situation!" I repeated her words and then returned my attention to the blonde-haired man.

That was when he asked, "but what kind of warrior turns their back on the enemy?"

There was a long pause. After considering his words, I realized that he had a valid point. However, I couldn't admit that he was right, now could I? I decided to just change the subject.

"Do you take responsibility for this?" I asked them sternly, crossing my arms at my chest.

They all exchanged glances before returning their attention to me. The blonde-haired man began to speak, "I'm sorry, but we—"

"Yes, we will."

I turned my attention towards the blue-haired girl who had just complied with my wishes. She turned to face the blonde-haired, strangely dressed man who had an annoyed look on his face, and then she looked straight at me.

"We are partly responsible for what happened. At the very least, we must try to help you."

Her voice was so polite…it almost seemed like it was entrancing. It must have been, because the blonde-haired man and that other woman suddenly agreed with her. I figured that maybe I'd have some luck with a polite voice, so I tried it.

"Then you'll help me find a way to exorcise these dragons?" I asked them. It was then that I mentally slapped myself for thinking that I could possibly have "some luck" with anything. The blue-haired girl approached me, and then nodded. She reached out and pulled one of the dragon heads against her face and cuddled it.

"Ohhh, but why would you want to get rid of them? They're so cute!"

I felt a bit uneasy at that remark, and I believe the rest of her group did too, as I saw the blonde-haired man exchange an awkward glance with that woman. The other dragon was now in on it too. The girl was scratching both of them under the chin with an overly gleeful expression on her face. I jerked away from her.

"They're just messing with you, really! They're pure evil! You have to help me!"

My demands were futile.

The strangely dressed woman disagreed, "They certainly don't look evil to me, darling."

I began to become frantic, "R-Really, they're just trying to trick you all. They're very cunning!"

The blonde-haired man raised an eyebrow, and waited a moment before speaking.

"Oh, and you know them so well already?"

His question once again brought upon a pause, though the blue-haired girl eventually spoke up.

"Well, we have no choice but to help him. We've already agreed on that."

Her words were polite again, and the rest of the group once again agreed with her. I gave out a sigh of relief; I was glad that I didn't need to argue the subject anymore.

"Well that's great and all, but…where do we start?" I pondered my own words for a few moments, until the blonde-haired man spoke up.

"Well, first let's get out of here." He turned away as he said this and began to walk. The other two followed him, and so did I.

We walked for a while, down the dark meandering tunnels of the drift. I was at the tail end of the group. It seemed rude, but I couldn't help but stare at the three. My questioning stare wandered from one to the other. This man had such strange clothing and a strange, silver L-shaped trinket attached to his belt. It was most peculiar. He also had a sword. My eyes wandered to the skimpily dressed woman. Judging from her tattoos, she had to be a Heraldic user. I too could use Heraldic Arts, to an extent. From her, my eyes rested upon the pointed-eared girl garbed in blue. There wasn't much that was strange about her that I could tell, other than her ears of course.

As we continued on, I suddenly realized that I did not know any of their names, nor did they know mine. I cleared my throat, "I'm sorry," I began, "I've forgotten to introduce myself."

They all turned to face me and I continued, "I'm Ashton Anchors. Pleased to meet you all…" I left my words trail off as I remembered that they caused me to be in this "predicament."

The skimpily dressed woman spoke first, "I'm Celine Jules. Treasure hunter and Heraldic sorceress. It's lovely to make your acquaintance, darling." She smiled.

The blue-haired girl had another gleeful smile on her face. "I'm Rena Lanford. Nice to meet you," she said cheerfully, bowing as she spoke.

"Claude Kenni." The blonde man held out his hand as he said this. I was a bit perplexed, and Rena giggled at my hesitation. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do, so I just grabbed his hand with mine. He shook his hand. I suppose it was a greeting.

We made our way out of the drifts at last. I felt ashamed to be seen in public. I could hear people whisper things as I walked past them. They weren't nice things, to put it simply. We approached the exit of Salva. I stopped, though they kept walking. I called out to them.

"Hold on!" I shouted.

They turned around and looked at me curiously.

"What is it, Ashton?" Claude asked.

"I need to gather my stuff from the inn. Could you please wait here?" I responded.

I turned and began back into the town. I felt worried. I figured that they would ditch me the second I got out of their view. I took a deep breath and hoped to God that for once in my life things would go as I wanted them to. I entered the inn, gathered my things, and paid for the previous night.

I was shocked to see that they were still there. No, not shocked; I was overjoyed! A smile crept onto my face as I started towards them. My expression seemed to spike Rena's curiosity, because her face showed confusion.

"Did something happen, Ashton?" She asked me. That air of politeness was still in her voice.

"Oh, it's just…ah, it's nothing." I responded hesitantly towards her, but smiled nonetheless.

"Well, where do we start?" Claude asked. Bah to him. Those words ruined the moment and I was suddenly cast back into my reality of misfortune. Everyone pondered his question, until suddenly…

"Books!"

We all turned our attention to Rena, who had just blurted that out.

"Books?" Claude repeated her words as a question.

"It's a start," Celine added. "The elder of my village has lots of old books in his library. Should we start there, darlings?"

It was agreed upon. Our plan was to set out for Celine's home village, which I soon found out was Mars. It sure was going to be a long trek…

We hadn't come that far from Salva when Rena suddenly perked up. She turned around and stepped in front of me. I was shocked.

"Rena?" I asked surprisingly.

She was smiling excitedly. "Say, Ashton…" She started. "Could I name them?" She asked me politely. At first it didn't register with me, but then I got the notion that she was referring to the dragons on my back.

"N-name them?" I repeated surprised. I honestly hadn't expected this, but then again I didn't know Rena that well, or any of these people for that matter.

"Yeah. I mean, they're going to be with us for a while, right? They're part of the group now." Her words were innocent. She seemed to be totally oblivious to the fact that I was going to be exorcising the dragons from my body. To be honest, I felt a bit guilty. Her smile was so…pretty. It made me feel so calm and warm. I didn't want to see it vanish, so I agreed.

"Sure, I guess."

"Yay!" She reached out her finger and tapped the blue dragon on its forehead. "Your eyes are cute because they're weepy, so I'll call you Ururun." She then reached out and tapped the red dragon on its forehead. "And your eyes are cute because they're so big, so I'll call you Gyoro." She giggled. The newly named dragons began to make noises.

"Awrook!"

"Awroon!"

Strangely enough, as they made these sounds my mind was filled with expressions of happiness.

"They're happy." I stated.

"You can understand them?" I heard Claude ask. I thought for a moment, and then decided that it really was Gyoro and Ururun that I was hearing in my mind. I nodded.

We had reached Cross at nightfall. It was unsafe to journey at night, so we decided to stay the night in Cross.

We entered Cross Kingdom. It was late out and the streets were completely empty. Rena led the group into the inn. Apparently a relative of hers owned the place. We walked in, and the inn clerk seemed to jump with surprise.

"Ah, Rena! You're back again!" Her voice was full of delight. Her eyes surveyed the group and landed on me. "And you've brought another strange—I mean handsome man! Oh Rena, already bored of the other one?" She winked at Rena with that last statement. Rena's face went beet red.

"Aunt Rachael! It's nothing like that!" Rena protested.

"Oh? He's not your new boyfriend?" Rachael seemed very curious to know.

Rena quickly retorted, "No!"

I gave out a rather loud sigh.

"Hmph, and I was so sure this time too…" Rachael's voice got quieter as she spoke.

"Absolutely not!" Rena shouted loudly, her face still red.

"Absolutely not?" I murmured these words and barely noticed that I had. Claude seemed to have heard me.

"You know, somehow this whole situation seems like deja-vu."

Rena looked at Claude a bit puzzled. "Did you say something, Claude?" She asked. Claude scratched the back of his head.

"Ah, no. Nothing at all." He replied nervously.

Rachael came out from behind the desk. "You're always welcome to stay here whenever you like to, Rena. Come, this way; I'll show you to your rooms." She turned and walked down the hallway. We followed her. She showed Celine and Rena to one room, and Claude and I to another.

"Please enjoy your stay." Rachael said with a smile. She made her way to the door, but stopped abruptly. She turned around and looked at Claude.

"I do hope you've been treating Rena nicely, Claude dear." Rachael's words were teasing, and she winked at Claude before finally leaving. I noticed that Claude was blushing at that comment. Judging by that action, Claude and Rena must be close.

I decided not to think on it; it really wasn't my business anyhow. I unlatched my swords from my belt and tossed them next to one of the beds. I then sat down, stretched out my arms, and with a long yawn, let myself fall backwards onto the bed. I hit the mattress and felt a rather uncomfortable feeling in my back. On top of that, Gyoro and Ururun were fussing. I immediately sat up. Claude was snickering to himself. I sneered at him. Gyoro and Ururun stopped fussing after I sat up.

I examined Claude for a moment. I still was curious towards his strange clothing. I decided to ask him about it.

"So, Claude." I said his name and he turned his attention to me. "Not to be rude or anything, but your clothing…" My eyes wandered down the sleeve of his vest, and landed on a strange symbol. "It's…different from what I've usually seen. Where is it that you come from?"

He seemed to become nervous. He averted his eyes so that he was no longer looking straight at me. "I uh, well…I come from a far away place."

It was easy to tell that he was hiding something. I once again looked at that symbol on his vest. Underneath it I saw the words 'Earth Federation Emergency Research' I was about to ask him about it, but he spoke up first.

"What about you, Ashton?" He asked. I could tell that he really wasn't interested. He was deep in thought about something. I played along though so that I wouldn't seem rude.

"I come from Lacour Kingdom. I was born and raised there, though both of my parents are deceased."

He wasn't paying attention at all. I left it at that. I lay down on my side and yawned. Before I knew it, I was fast asleep.

I was awoken in the middle of the night by the sound of a door clicking shut. I sat up groggily and surveyed the room with blurry eyes. As my sight came back, I noticed that Claude was gone. I stood up. I then heard footsteps coming from the hallway. I opened the door silently and stepped out into the hall. It was dark, but I saw a figure standing in the lobby. I approached the figure. Getting closer I could see that it was Rena.

"Claude…" She murmured his name.

I stepped out into the lobby. "Rena?" I called out her name quietly. She was startled, and made a rather loud gasp.

"Ashton? What are you doing?" She asked surprised.

"I could ask you the same thing." I replied.

"Rena? Ashton? What are you…?"

We both jumped and turned to face Claude who had reentered the inn. He was holding some strange device. He didn't wait for an answer. He sighed and walked down the hallway. He entered the room and quietly shut the door that I had left open. I turned my attention to Rena who had a worried expression on her face.

"What's with Claude?" I asked her.

She shook her head. "I'm not sure." She said. "This is the second time that…" Her words trailed off. Gyoro bent down and rubbed his face against hers. He made a quiet noise, and in my head I could tell he was saying, "It's all right."

"Oh, Gyoro!" She cuddled her face against the dragon's and then kissed Gyoro on the forehead.

"Goodnight, Gyoro." She whispered. That smile of hers was back. Ururun groaned.

"Ururun is jealous." I said with a small laugh.

She giggled at my remark and then kissed Ururun on the forehead too.

"Goodnight, Ururun. To you too, Ashton." She yawned as she said this. She walked down the hall and into her room. I stood there for a moment, alone, thinking about the two on my back. I suppose I wasn't really alone though…

I returned to my room.

* * *

A.N. And the introduction, A.K.A. chapter one, is uploaded. Chapter two will be uploaded in about two weeks. From there on, it will probably be monthly updates. I do have much more of this done; six chapters to be exact. I don't want to upload them so quickly though, because if I do I will surely fall behind in my writing. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed doing so!


	2. The 'Silver Goblet'

A.N. Been a long time since I uploaded the first chapter. I guess I underestimated the busyness of college.

* * *

I woke up to the ringing of church bells. I was blinded by the sun's light as my eyes crept open. I slowly sat up and got out of the bed. Claude was not there, however all of his stuff was. Which means that they really weren't trying to ditch me. I left the inn and stepped out onto the busy, morning streets of Cross Kingdom.

It was noisy, as to be expected of a castle town. People were going from here to there, carrying out whatever business they had. I felt my stomach rumble suddenly. I hadn't eaten since yesterday morning, so I decided to head to the café.

I sat down at one of the tables. Not too long after a young woman approached me and took my order.

"Breakfast special." I had told her.

I sat back and slouched a bit in my chair, but not enough so that it'd disturb those dragons on my back. I took a deep breath and gazed up at the blue sky.

"Oh, Ashton darling!"

I gave out a loud "huh?" and tilted my head to face where the voice had come from. I saw Celine walking towards me, waving. She took a seat across from me.

"Good morning, Celine." I said, fixing my posture. She laughed for some reason.

"Morning?" She began, "Why it's already past noon!"

I felt a bit embarrassed.

"You sure are a heavy sleeper." She said.

At this time the waiter had come back with my food. She set it down in front of me and also put down a glass of water and eating utensils. I thanked her and handed her the money for the food.

"Enjoy your meal." She said. She then hurried along to another table of people.

I looked down at my plate: eggs, toast, and pancakes with maple syrup. I picked up my fork and started off by taking a helping of eggs. I looked up at Celine.

"So, Celine; you said you were a treasure hunter."

She was looking off into the distance, but faced me as I spoke.

"That's right, darling." She responded.

I picked up a piece of toast, bit it, chewed, and swallowed.

"Have you ever found anything worthwhile?" I asked her curiously. She nodded and then reached into a small bag that she was carrying. She pulled out a rather ancient looking book.

"I just recently came in possession of these ancient texts from Cross Cave, with the help of Claude and Rena." Her voice was full of excitement, but it soon faded, "Though I can't read any of it…"

I set down my fork.

"Let me try." I insisted. She shrugged and handed me the book.

"I doubt you'll have any luck." She said. I couldn't help but stare at her after that comment. I was a bit annoyed by it. I turned my attention to the old tome in my hands. I opened it. The pages were flooded with ancient symbols. I skimmed them. For some reason I could read a word. I suppose it was really Gyoro and Ururun who could read it, not me. It was only one word, but it was better than nothing.

"Calamity." I said. Celine looked at me awkwardly.

"What did you say, darling?" She asked curiously. I held the book outward so that she could see the text and pointed at a short series of symbols.

"It says 'Calamity' right here." I stated. She was astonished.

"You can read this?" She said, her voice picking up with excitement. I shook my head.

"Not exactly. I can only make out that word." I said. "Actually, it's these guys who could read it." I added while looking over my left shoulder, followed by my right shoulder. Celine sighed.

"Pity they can only read one word…" She said disappointedly.

I ignored her last comment and flipped through a few more pages, this time I wasn't just skimming. I was able to read a bit more of it, with the help of Gyoro and Ururun.

"It's describing a place—rather a paradise—called 'Nede.'" I told her.

She seemed confused. "Needy?" She repeated my last word—or at least what she thought I said—in the form of a question.

I shook my head, laughing a bit. "No, no. 'Nede.'" I said once more, reiterating the name.

I handed her the book back and returned to my food. There wasn't any conversation between us for a while. I just ate and she peered at the book. I started onto the pancakes.

"You know, you really should feed poor Gyoro and Ururun, darling."

I looked up at Celine, who had just spoken. She was no longer holding the book.

"'Poor' Gyoro and Ururun?" I asked. "I'm the one who's possessed here!" I said in defense of myself. I then looked up and saw the two dragons that were looking down at my food lustfully. I sighed.

"Oh, all right…" I murmured hopelessly.

I called the waiter over and ordered a large serving of eggs. It came shortly after and left a dent in my wallet. Gyoro and Ururun quickly began to gobble up the food.

"You three sure seem to be getting along better!"

I turned to see Rena approaching me with a beaming face. Claude was not far behind her. Gyoro and Ururun had finished the food. They reached out towards Rena affectionately. She giggled and began to pet them.

"You two are total suck-ups." I said. Gyoro and Ururun just ignored me.

"We'd best head off now if we hope to make it to Mars before nightfall." Claude stated.

Shortly after we returned to the inn and gathered our stuff. We proceeded to the lobby. Rachael was waiting for us there.

"Now now, you take _good_ care of Rena for me, okay?" Rachael winked at me. I could feel myself blushing. "Claude is _very_ neglecting of her." She added. Claude was taken aback.

"Wha-what?" He shouted.

Rena sighed. "Come-on, let's go." She demanded. She had already left the inn.

We followed and heard Rachael shout, "Take Care!"

Our journey to Mars was rather uneventful, other than a few pushover monsters. We arrived at nightfall, much like we had in Cross Kingdom. We wasted no time and immediately went to the Elder's house.

The house was empty. I assumed the elder had to be asleep; this made me feel like I was intruding. We made our way into the library.

"All right, it should be somewhere around here." Claude stated. He walked to the end of the room and began skimming through rows of books with his finger. Celine and Rena also began looking. There were so many books—shelves upon shelves of them. I didn't know where to start. I turned towards the nearest bookshelf and bent over to get a closer look at the books. After a short look, I came to the conclusion that this whole shelf was just books compiled of old village documents. Nothing of use there. I began on another shelf, but was interrupted by Celine.

"Here it is, darlings. The 'Book of Exorcism.'" She said. We all gathered around her. She opened the book to the first page.

"One who is possessed by a thing of a different form must peruse this book. Thee must take care in choosing depending on the kind of possessing demon." She paused and looked up at us.

"In this case, a dragon." Claude said. Celine flipped through the pages, then stopped abruptly.

"He who is possessed by a 'demon dragon' must use the holy 'Silver Goblet' to catch the Tears of the King dancing in the sky." She once again paused and looked up at us with a puzzled face. She looked as if she was waiting for us to evaluate what she had just said, but nobody said a word. She returned her attention to the book.

"The 'Silver Goblet' reposes within the mother's body embraced by the surface of the calm waters." She again looked up at us as she finished.

"Surface of the calm waters…" I pondered aloud. "Could that be the sea…or perhaps a lake?" I said, completing my aloud thought. Celine quickly spoke up as I finished.

"If it's a lake, then it must be Lake Col to the northwest." She said. It seemed logical enough to me.

"But I don't understand the reference to 'the mother's body.'" I thought aloud again, hoping to receive an answer like before.

"I wonder if that would be the Mountain Palace? It is near Lake Col…" Rena added. That also seemed logical enough for me. Celine began to read again.

"He who holds the 'Silver Goblet' must stand on the steep and proudly challenge him to a fight. When thee art victorious over the 'King of the Sky,' ye shall catch the tears." Celine's eyes wandered down the book's page.

"And what then?" Rena asked.

"Return thee to the place where the demon dragon was born, and take the 'Silver Goblet' to pour the 'Tears of the King' into thy mouth and chant the words that we have inscribed in this book. With a savage howl of torment, the demon dragon shall disappear from this world." Celine finished, and once more she looked up at us all. There was a long pause.

"So Gyoro and Ururun will…" Rena hesitated, "die?"

I looked down at my feet. I felt a bit guilty.

"Is it any different than what Ashton was originally doing, or what any of us were intending on doing?"

Everyone turned to Claude who had just spoken.

"But…" Rena started, though she never finished. She looked down with remorse.

"It can't be helped." Claude insisted. "At any rate, we need to head to the Mountain Palace and obtain this 'Silver Goblet.'" He added. "We'll leave first thing in the morning."

Celine had suggested that we stayed at her house for the night. It would cut out the cost of staying at the inn. We made our way to her house, which was on the other side of the village.

I couldn't sleep at all. What that book had said was plaguing my mind: 'with a savage howl of torment, the demon dragon shall disappear from this world.' That line kept repeating itself inside my head.

I sat up and threw the covers off of me. For some reason I was feeling indecisive about this whole situation, whereas yesterday I wanted nothing but to rid myself of this encumbrance of misfortune. I heard two deep yawns behind me, and looked up as far as I could to see Gyoro and Ururun groggily yawning. They must have been shaken awake when I sat up suddenly. I stood and made my way out of the guest room. I crept silently down the stairs and came into the living room. I sat down on the couch in front of the crackling fire.

"Do you really wish to rid yourself of us?"

I was surprised by that sudden voice. I peered around the room looking for the source of it, but didn't see anyone.

"Are we really that much of a burden?"

There was the voice again! I once again peered around the room, but then I realized that it was Gyoro and Ururun in my mind. I sighed, not knowing how to respond to their question. I stared into the fire.

"Your mind has changed, now that you have come to know us."

They were prodding away at me now.

"Amusing how your kind will fear and destroy what it does not know, but embrace what it does."

I thought long and hard on what they had just said. They were, in a way, right. The people of Salva feared the dragon…wanted nothing but to rid themselves of that fear…unwilling to live alongside the dragon. Now that I think about it, I was that way too...

"What are you doing up this late, Ashton?"

I jumped a little in surprise. I looked at Rena who was standing at the bottom of the stairs rubbing her left eye. I returned my gaze to the fire.

"I couldn't sleep." I told her. She came and sat down next to me on the sofa. I could feel her staring at me.

"Are you really going to…" She hesitated. I sighed.

"It's just like Claude said. In a way, it's the same as what I intended to do." I felt betrayed by my own words.

"No, it's not the same." She said.

I turned and looked at her.

"Gyoro and Ururun are our friends now." She said innocently with a small smile.

There was a moment of silence. My eyes were locked on hers, which were shining dimly in the light of the fire. I gazed, entranced, into her eyes, unable to look away.

"Ashton?" She called my name suddenly.

I snapped back into reality, and as I did a blush found its way across my face. I looked away, hoping she wouldn't notice with the poorly lit conditions. She reached out, touching Gyoro gently on the cheek.

"I couldn't imagine you without Gyoro and Ururun…" She said in a worried tone.

For some reason I didn't feel taken aback by that like I thought I should be. We both sat there, quietly, looking into the fire for quite some time. I hadn't realized it until I actually looked, but the weight I felt against my shoulder wasn't Gyoro's head. Rena had fallen asleep and her head was resting against my shoulder. Her blue hair was glistening softly in the firelight, and she was breathing calmly with a content and innocent expression. I wanted to stoke her hair, but feared that I may wake her. I watched her sleep. She was so beautiful…

I couldn't resist anymore, and took my hand and gently stroked her hair, a single bang falling out in front of her face as I did. I smiled at her unknowing demeanor. My eyes were becoming heavy, so I closed them tightly and instantaneously succumbed to sleep.

"My my, Rena darling; Claude would certainly not approve of this!"

I opened my eyes slowly and saw a very blurry Celine standing in front of the now-extinguished fireplace. I felt something lying against my body, and something warm and silk-like against my head, and soon heard soft noises. I lifted my head up and noticed Rena with her head snuggled against my shoulder and her arms wrapped loosely around my left arm, lying against me with her legs curled up. She must have shifted during the night, because I don't remember her being so cuddled against me. I could feel my face burning madly from a blush.

Her eyes opened halfway, then closed again as if resisting waking up. She cuddled closer against my arm, sighing contently. Celine blinked with wide eyes. Footsteps descended the stairs, and soon Claude was in the room, looking straight at me with what seemed to be jealousy. His eyes shifted from my face and onto Rena.

"Rena, what are you doing?" He asked. There was a hint of anger in his voice.

She slowly came to again, but this time her eyes fully opened. Our eyes met as she looked up at me unintentionally. She quickly lifted herself up, her face red with a blush.

"I'm so sorry, Ashton!" She apologized hastily. "I just fell asleep and…!" She tried to jumble words in a defensive manner, but was talking faster than she could think. She turned her head so that she wouldn't be facing anyone. I looked back-and-forth between Celine and Claude, who were both starting at me.

"Uhm…it's not what it looks like?" I said with a small laugh.

"It would seem that way, wouldn't it?" Claude retorted. I couldn't tell if he meant that sarcastically, with anger, or both. If I had to guess, I'd say the latter. He left the house after saying that. Celine and I watched him leave, though Rena was still trying to avoid eye contact with anyone.

"He's a sensitive man, that Claude."

I turned to Celine who had just chuckled slightly at her own words. She returned upstairs, leaving Rena and I alone once again. I looked at her closely; she seemed to be upset. I reached out and placed my hand on her shoulder. She jumped a little.

"Rena, it's all right. Really. There's nothing to be sorry for." I assured her. She didn't turn to look at me like I had expected. Instead she sighed.

"Claude is mad at me…" She said in an upset manner.

I didn't know what to say, so I kept quiet and removed my hand from her shoulder. I slouched backwards on the couch. She suddenly got up and ran upstairs.

Our trip to the Mountain Palace took immense amounts of time, and was rather lacking of conversation, too. If we hadn't set out as early as we had, we never would have made it before nightfall. A lone soldier stood watch over the place. My appearance seemed to intimidate him, as he let us pass without consent from the king of Cross.

"This place is so big!" Rena exclaimed. We had made our way rather deep into the Mountain Palace, through its old, seemingly endless and monotonous passageways. Celine was fidgeting with a map of the place, turning it side-to-side.

"According to this map," she began, turning her way towards a nearby staircase. "The innermost room should be right down there."

"Let's not waste anytime then." Claude suddenly said, hastily going down the staircase ahead of the group. Rena chased after him, shouting loudly.

"Claude, wait! It's dangerous!" Her voice echoed throughout the place. I watched her until she was out of sight, and then turned to Celine.

"Are they always like this?" I asked her. She just shrugged.

As we approached the staircase, Gyoro and Ururun began to growl.

"What is it, guys?" I asked them out loud.

"There's something down there…" I heard them say in my head. I gasped, and then ran as fast as I could down the staircase, shouting.

"Rena, wait!"

"Not you too!" I heard Celine shout at me.

As I reached the bottom of the stairs, I heard a scream. I ran into the room in which it came from, only to see Rena knocked down and Claude being held by a strange lady-like monster. Next to them was a silver cup, which I assumed was the 'Silver Goblet.'

I ran over to Rena and helped her up. She wasn't injured badly.

"Please, help Claude!" She pleaded. I nodded, then turned my attention to the monster that was holding Claude. His body suddenly fell limp, and the monster threw him aside. His sword skidded against the ground, as did he.

I didn't waste anymore time. I unsheathed my swords and charged the monster. I threw two quick jabs, followed by a vertical slash, all of which it parried with ease. I didn't leave an opening though, and began to attack relentlessly. I figured I'd hit eventually, and so I did. One of my attacks connected, which made the monster retreat a bit. I watched closely as it jumped into the air and came at me like a missile. I kept a close eye on it, and as it was about to hit me I ducked swiftly, turned around, and without giving the monster time to react after landing, jabbed both of my sword's into its back. I gripped my blades tightly, and then kicked the beast harshly in the back, releasing my now blood-covered blades from its flesh.

It turned towards me. I was somewhat amazed that it was still alive after that. Suddenly it became faster, and lunged at me with great speed. It clawed me across the chest with such a force that I was sent flying backwards, my chest burning with pain as blood seeped out of the cuts. I hit the ground hard. Looking at the beast, I saw that it was now in the air, diving straight at me. I didn't have time to evade and the monster landed on my stomach with a great force. A sharp pain surged throughout my body as I felt my stomach caving inward. I gagged on my own blood that was rising in my throat.

What happened next utterly surprised me. As the monster jumped off of me, a beam of scorching flames erupted in front of me. The monster was ensued by the vicious flames and was squirming as it burned. A sickening smell began to fill the room as the monster was burned alive. It writhed in pain, letting out ear-piercing cries until it finally fell over dead as a burning heap.

I let my head fall back and hit the ground. I lay there, unable to move my body. Rena's worried face suddenly came into view.

"Ashton!" She cried my name and knelt beside me. She placed her hand on my stomach. Even her gentle touch was like a punch to the gut. I gave out a quiet cry, but soon after I felt tranquil. I could see a green light coming from her hand, and as it did the pain seemed to fade.

"R-Rena…?" I called out in confusion. I tried to sit up, but she stopped me with her other hand.

"Please, don't move." She told me in a gentle voice.

I gave in to her wishes. Besides, this light that was coming from her hand was so warm and relaxing. My body became completely relaxed as she placed her other hand on my chest. The green light now emitted from both of her hands. She stopped abruptly and stood up. She reached her hand out towards me. I placed my hand in hers and she helped me stand. I was astonished to be able to get up so easily. In fact, the pain had completely vanished. I peered down at my chest where my clothing was frayed by the monster's claws. There wasn't any sign of a wound on my exposed flesh.

"What…was that?" I asked quietly. I looked up after not hearing a reply. Rena was already kneeling by Claude, the green light now shining over him.

My question wasn't entirely aimed at Rena. I was still unsure as to why that creature had suddenly combusted into flames. I saw Celine making her way over to Claude and Rena, and called out to her.

"Celine."

She stopped and turned to me.

"Was that you just now?" I asked her. Confusion appeared on her face.

"What are you talking about?" She asked perplexed. I guess it wasn't her.

I made my way over towards the rest of the group. Rena was helping Claude up, much like she had with me. Claude brushed himself off and then reached down to retrieve his sword. Rena's face became stern.

"Claude, what were you thinking?" She asked suddenly. Her voice was full of anger, but at the same time full of concern. "Why would you go off on your own like that?"

Claude opened his mouth to speak, but Rena cut him off.

"It's dangerous to go off like that!" She shouted in his face. "If Ashton hadn't of been here…!" She stopped suddenly, taking a deep breath. I could tell that she was upset, almost on the verge of crying. Claude's face flushed with anger.

"If Ashton hadn't of been here, then we wouldn't be here in the first place!" He yelled furiously.

We were all shocked at his words, including Claude himself. I let my head sink as I sighed disappointedly, and as I did the anger vanished from his face.

"I…I'm sorry, Ashton." He said apologetically. I didn't look up at him, and instead I shook my head.

"No, you're right." I told him.

I began to walk towards the 'Silver Goblet,' feeling their stares as I did. I reached out and brushed it with my fingers. I sighed remorsefully and then picked it up. I made my way towards the exit of the room.

"Come-on, let's go. The sooner we get the King's Tears, the sooner you all can be rid of me."

As I left the room, I heard Rena murmur my name. I proceeded up the staircase, and soon they all were following me.

* * *

A.N. Sorry for the delay for those of you who were waiting. I'm probably going to adopt a bi-monthly schedule for updating this.


	3. Three Becomes Six

A.N. Been a while since an update. Been a while since I did anything on this website. Sorry about that. Anyways, chapter three is finally here. It's rather short, and I'm honestly not too fond of this particular chapter. I wanted to revise it, but after reading over it countless times, I couldn't think of anything to change or add to it. It still bothers me. I hope it is somewhat enjoyable at the least.

* * *

We returned to the entrance of the Mountain Palace. The guard seemed rather surprised that we were still alive. He suggested that we wait until morning before we left.

I sat down against a wall lightly as to not hurt the two on my back. I closed my eyes and pondered what had happened earlier during the fight. I remembered the monster landing on my stomach brutally. I could almost feel the pain of it again. I reached down and placed a hand on my stomach, attempting to feel for the wound that wasn't there. I glanced over at Rena who was on the other side of the large room conversing with Celine. My eyes wandered to Celine. If Celine hadn't cast a spell that caused those flames, then what could have…?

I opened my eyes and glanced at Gyoro.

Could it be…?

"Hey, Ashton."

Upon hearing my name I turned my attention to Claude who stood in front of me, looking down towards me. He sat down next to me, slouching against the wall.

"About earlier…" He began, "look, I'm sorry, all right?" He quickly finished. I accepted his apology, even though it was quick and full of emptiness. He avoided eye contact with me.

"I wasn't thinking, I was just—"

"It was an accident." I interrupted him, not turning to face him. I knew he was upset from the earlier misunderstanding that involved Rena and me at Mars. It was now obvious that he liked her—a lot.

"No, it's her right to choose how she feels about someone." He said, his voice tainted with regret. I burst out laughing at his remark.

"You've got it all wrong!" I started, "We were just talking about these two. She fell asleep shortly afterward." I told him, gesturing at the two dragons on my back. "I really don't know how she ended up like that, though…" I said honestly. I turned to look at him.

His face was redder than Gyoro's scales, and his eyes looked like they were popping out. I laughed again at his priceless expression. My sudden outbursts of laughter seemed to procure Rena and Celine's attention on the other side of the large room, as they were now staring at us curiously. I watched as Claude stood up and sulked away with embarrassment.

We set out early that morning for our next destination, which we decided upon shortly after waking up: the Lasguss Mountains. It was another long trek. We made camp at the foot of the mountains, knowing that it'd be best to wait for morning to start our long climb to the summit. We were inching ever closer to our goal…

Morning came, and we began our climb. It wasn't too bad; pathways had been set by past explorers, making most of the climb rather simple. We had finally reached the summit…

"So, where is this 'King that Dances in the Sky?'" Claude asked, glancing around the huge nest atop the summit. There wasn't a thing in sight. Celine opened the book, skimmed through the pages quickly, and then closed it.

"I'm not sure." She stated bluntly.

I stepped onto the nest, and as I did I heard a deafening screech from above. I immediately looked up and saw a humungous bird-creature diving straight for us. I instinctively unsheathed my swords.

"Here it comes!" I shouted. I blinked…

…And then suddenly the bird was gone. I was baffled beyond belief.

"Wh-where did the bird go?" I asked. I turned around to face the three behind me. Their expressions seemed so…strangely familiar…

Oh no!

I looked over my shoulder worriedly, but only saw the two dragons. I gave out a sigh of relief. I returned my attention to them again. Celine suddenly shouted appraisingly.

"Ashton darling, that was incredible!"

My baffled expression returned. "Eh?"

Rena was applauding now, and Claude was staring at me suspiciously.

"What's going on? Where did the bird go?" I asked once more.

Claude then spoke up. "That wasn't Ashton." He said sternly. Rena stopped clapping, suddenly perked with confusion. "That was Gyoro and Ururun." He stated.

My eyes widened.

"Don't you think that he was talking rather funny before the battle?" Claude asked them. Celine nodded in agreement.

"That is true." She said. "Gyoro and Ururun, you say…my, that level of ability! It was remarkable! It even surpassed Dias's strength!" Her voice was full of awe.

Claude closed his eyes, and his head dropped in shame. He clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles turning white.

"Stronger than Dias…?" He murmured with disgust.

I had no clue who they were talking about, nor did I care. My mind was astray with what Claude meant by "it was Gyoro and Ururun." Did they take control of my body? A pain shot through my head suddenly, and I brought my hand up to my forehead, groaning in pain. My forehead was soaked with sweat.

I staggered, looking at Rena, Claude, and Celine. The world around me started to spin. I heard Rena call my name, or at least it sounded like it. Her voice seemed slurred and I couldn't understand it. Another pain sparked in my head, and I fell forward, my body suddenly worn. I heard Rena's voice one last time before everything went black.

I woke up all of a sudden. I saw the night sky, which was graced by countless shining stars. I blinked, and then gazed into the sky, the vast sea of stars bearing down on me with their never-ending light. I sat up, and as I looked around, I remembered where I was. A cool wind swept over the summit. I saw Celine sprawled out and in a deep sleep. Near her was Rena, sitting up against a tall rock, also asleep. I heard a beeping noise behind me, and turned to see Claude sitting near the edge of the summit. There was a faint, blinking light coming from in front of him. He suddenly began to speak.

"Calnus, this is Claude Kenni of the Earth Federation Emergency Research crew, please respond!" His voice was desperate and pleading. "This is Claude Kenni…father, can you hear me?" There was a pause, followed suddenly by a beep. He put what he was holding into his pocket, and as he did, I noticed that it was that same device he had that night at the inn in Cross. He turned around suddenly and noticed me. He acted as if he wasn't up to anything.

"Oh, Ashton; you're finally awake." He said half-surprised. "You had us all worried sick." He quickly added. It seemed as if he was annoyed by me; he probably knew that I just witnessed—what was to me—his strange behavior. "How are you feeling?" He asked.

I shrugged. "A bit better, I guess." I said unsure. "What happened earlier?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "I don't know. You suddenly became delirious and fainted."

I shook my head at his comment. "No, I mean before that." I told him. He fell silent, his head dropping.

"That bird…it just vanished?" I asked. "You said something about Gyoro and Ururun?" I quickly asked, not giving him any time to respond to my first question. He looked up at me.

"Your voice." He suddenly said bluntly. "It changed as that bird drew near. And your eyes…"

"What about my eyes?" I asked offensively. I was impatient; I wanted to know what happened to me, and I wanted to know now. His eyes closed, and he looked like he was imagining something.

"They started to glow red." He opened his eyes as he said this, looking straight at me. What he just told me shocked me, and also frightened me.

"M-my eyes—"

"You began to talk to the bird, saying strange things. 'We must learn to live alongside humans.'" He took a deep sigh after he said this. "And after all that…" He seemed to be hesitant to tell me the next part. "You unleashed superhuman abilities and tore the creature apart with blinding speed and unbelievable strength…it barely got away alive."

My eyes widened with terror. I slowly looked down at my hands, which were now trembling. I couldn't believe it. I did all that?

"Ashton, it wasn't you." I heard him say reassuringly.

I knew what did this. And I now knew why my body collapsed. I glanced up over my left shoulder at Gyoro, who was staring straight at me with strong eyes. It was them. I guess my body couldn't handle the strain they were putting on me. I looked at Claude, angered.

"What about the Tears?" I demanded to know. He nodded at me.

"We have them, don't worry." He said, once again assuring me.

I did not fall back asleep that night. I laid there, watching the sky gradually change from dark and starry, to bright and blue. I sat up and waited for everyone to wake up.

"Are you feeling better?"

I nodded at the question, without turning to face Rena who had asked it.

"I'm glad." She said happily. I could feel her watching me.

"Are you all right?" I heard her ask with concern. I was upset from what had happened, but it seemed to fade away as I heard her caring voice. I guess my anger subsided because I remembered that she did not want me to go through with this whole exorcism thing. I've only just met her, yet for some reason I cared about what she wanted. It was strange, but…

"I'm fine, really." I said, this time turning to look at her.

"Well Ashton darling, we have everything now."

I heard Celine say. She was soon standing next to Rena. Claude too was soon standing next to them.

"Shall we go?" Celine asked. I stood and nodded.

At last, we finally had all of the necessary items. All that was left to do now was to perform the ritual that would set me free. Our next destination: Salva.

We hastily made our way to Salva. We wasted no time and went directly into the drifts.

I retraced my steps of when I was going to slay this dragon that now resided on my back. I could feel myself getting anxious as we neared our destination. Rena hadn't said a word since we left the Lasguss Mountains. She seemed rather down the whole way.

We finally made it to where it all began. I stepped out to where I first came to slay the dragon, memories flooding my mind. I glanced at Rena, who had her head down with a saddened expression on her face that was partially hidden by her bangs. I sighed. I knew exactly why she was upset; she didn't want me to go through with this ritual. I closed my eyes momentarily. Now was not the time for guilt.

I was handed the 'Silver Goblet' from Celine. There was a crystal clear liquid inside of it, and from it I could see all three of our reflections—Gyoro, Ururun, and me. They were peering down at me with strong eyes. I looked up at Celine, who nodded at me.

"Let's begin." She said, stepping back away from me.

I took the 'Silver Goblet' and held it out in front of me. "I will now perform the ritual." I stated nervously.

I closed my eyes. Celine began to read the incantations from the book, which I repeated.

"Let my body receive the light of purity to drive the evil curse away…" I began. I was hesitant and my voice was shaky. "Oh god of purification, I pledge to thee and ask you to purify my accursed body with pure holy water." With these words, I slowly brought the 'Silver Goblet' up to my lips.

'With a savage howl of torment, the demon dragon shall disappear from this world.'

The 'Silver Goblet' fell from my trembling hands as I tightened my closed eyes. It hit the floor, its contents spilling out in a small pool.

"I can't do it! I know it so much that it hurts!" I suddenly shouted in dismay.

"Ashton…" I heard Rena call my name softly.

"I'm so sorry everyone. All of this…was for nothing." I turned away from them with these words. I couldn't bear to see their disappointed faces. I felt so stupid. This whole time I knew that I wouldn't be able to go through with it, yet I let them pursue their responsibility so that _I_ wouldn't be left alone again. I felt like I was about to burst into tears. Instead of being chastised, however, something else happened.

"It wasn't for nothing."

I heard that gentle voice and turned in surprise to face its owner: Rena.

"We've all made new friends. Isn't that right, you two?" She smiled brightly at me with these words, and as she did I put all of my effort into holding back my tears.

I looked up at the two dragons that were looking at me with big grins.

"Awroo!"

"Awro, awrook!"

They made silly noises. They were agreeing with Rena, and I could tell that they meant it.

"You made the right choice, darling. I couldn't have watched Gyoro and Ururun being killed like that!" Celine was now assuring me too.

"They're definitely keepers." Claude said jokingly. I laughed heartily with him.

I surveyed the group in front of me. I had made many friends indeed.

Our journey from the drifts was quick, or so it seemed to be. I was rather upset that this would be our last journey as a group, as they were no longer bound to me by responsibility. As we neared the edge of Salva I stopped abruptly. They all turned to face me.

"So, I guess this is it, huh?" I asked disappointedly. My head sank, my chin pressing against my chest. At least I wouldn't really be alone anymore.

"So, Ashton; where will you go?" Claude asked. I quickly looked up at him.

"I'm not sure." I told him. It was true. I had no place to go other than to where work was.

Rena suddenly reached out and softly clasped my hand between both of hers. She was smiling brightly again.

"Why don't you come with us?" She asked cheerfully.

I couldn't believe what I had just heard. At first I wasn't even sure if she had just asked that, but soon I was filled with joy.

"All right!" I shouted without much thinking. I realized soon after how crude that sounded. "That is, if it's all right with everyone." I said like a question.

"I certainly wouldn't mind." Celine quickly responded. I smiled at her, and then my eyes wandered to Claude.

"The more the merrier…" He said softly, letting his words trail off. I got the vibe that he didn't like the idea of me coming along, but it could have just been my imagination.

"Then it's settled!" Rena shouted gleefully. She still held onto my hand. "Ashton, Gyoro, Ururun," She said looking at each of us in that order, "You're now officially part of the group!"

I couldn't help but smile. It must be my lucky day…

* * *

A.N. As I'm looking ahead to chapter four, it could take some time. That one needs revision even more than this one did. While I couldn't change or add anything here, chapter four will definitely have changes and additions. It is also much longer than this chapter. It is currently at 4,035 words. Still rather short, but as I said I'll be adding things. Chapter five is at 6400+ words, as is chapter six, and both are complete. Chapter seven is currently at 6100-ish, and is only about a third done. Yeah, very big chapter there. Got a lot to do. Bleh.


	4. The 'Warriors of Light'

A.N. Been a while since an update, and as such chapter five will be up shortly. Anyways, this chapter marks the last of the "old" chapters I wrote a long, long, long time ago. You may notice shifts in the writing here. Enjoy!

* * *

"While we're out this way, we should go visit everyone in Arlia. It's been a while since we last saw them. Mother must be worried sick about me…"

Rena's words broke the long silence that had been lingering on as we left the inn. I had never been to Arlia and was much curious to see the village. It was said to be the most beautiful village in all of Expel. Claude, however, seemed skeptical about the idea; he wasn't the only one either.

"That would be out of our way though." He said, trying not to be rude. Rena frowned.

"Claude is right, Rena sweetheart. It would set us back a day; we need to set sail from Herlie and get to Lacour as soon as possible." Celine said, agreeing with Claude. Rena's frown got bigger. Celine quickly spoke upon seeing Rena's facial expression. "Besides, don't you want to know what these say?" She asked Rena while holding up the ancient tome and tapping the cover with her index finger. Rena shook her head.

"It's not that…" She started politely. "I just thought it'd be nice to see everyone again." She finished. Her head dropped slightly as she looked downward.

I decided to speak up.

"Why not go to Arlia?" I asked. Before they had a chance to respond I spoke again. "Translating those texts can wait." I stated in a straightforward manner. Rena glanced over at me. A small smile curled onto her lips.

"That's not the only reason we need to get to Lacour." Claude said, looking straight at me. I shook my head at him.

"Whatever the reason, I'm sure it can wait." I replied to him once again with a straightforward manner.

"But you—"

"Oh all right, you win." Celine said, cutting off Claude as he began to speak. "You're right. Translating these can wait. We might not be out here again for quite some time, so we might as well let Rena visit while she can." She concluded.

Claude gave out a heavy sigh in defeat, and we then left Salva for Arlia.

The village was just as it was said to be. Birds flew over the town playfully; the sound of slow running water could be heard throughout the village; and to top it off, a beautiful forest border-lining the edge of the village. It left me awestruck.

"My, this is a beautiful little village." Celine stated with awe. I got the notion that this was her first time here, just like me.

"I'll be off." Rena said suddenly. She then walked away into the village without saying another word. Claude and Celine soon after walked off also, leaving me alone—well, not really—without any idea of what to do or where to go. I shrugged to myself and then made my way around town.

A rather large house had caught my eye. It seemed to be in the dead center of the village. My first guess was that it was home to the mayor, as people of such importance typically lived in grand houses. I decided to see just what it was and who lived there. I made my way around the sides and eventually came to the door. The house sat on the side of the small river running through town. Its reflection was clear on the calmly flowing water. I knocked, and shortly after a woman answered the door. She had long, blue hair. It somewhat reminded me of Rena, but it was much darker than hers.

"Can I help you?" She asked in a polite manner that seemed to fade as her eyes met with the dragons on my back. I scratched the back of my head.

"I'm sorry. I really have no clue where I'm going in this town." I stated dumbly. "I thought maybe this was the mayor's house…" I left my words unfinished.

The woman laughed nervously at me, and pointed straight across from her. "That's the mayor's house, there." She said.

"Mother, who is it?"

That sudden voice was familiar. The woman turned her head and leaned back into the doorway.

"It's a strange man. Much like that Claude." She yelled back teasingly.

I soon saw Rena appear behind the woman.

"Oh, Ashton!" She called out to me. She squeezed out of the doorway that the woman was blocking.

"You know this man?" The woman asked, looking at Rena curiously. She nodded.

"Yes, he's traveling with us." She replied. The woman smiled at this comment.

"Well he's awfully lost." She said truthfully. "Why don't you show him around the village like you did with Claude? When you get back, I'll have a nice dinner ready for both of you." She seemed to be telling Rena to do this rather than asking. Rena thought for a moment, then agreed.

"Okay, mother. Just don't go off and make too much food this time, 'kay?"

So that was her mother. I glanced back and forth between the two, yet saw no resemblance other than hair color. Rena had long, pointed ears, yet this mother of hers had ears like the rest of us.

Rena suddenly grabbed my wrist and tugged on it. She burst into a jog.

"Come-on, let's go!" She said excitedly. She dragged me along.

She took me to the mayor's house first. I stood by while Rena knocked on the door. Moments passed, and she turned to me with a smile, her hands behind her back. I smiled back. She turned away and knocked again. As before, there was no answer.

"He's not home?" I asked.

Rena shrugged, "I guess so."

We made our way to the small shop of the village. We entered, a small bell chiming as the door opened.

"Why hello, Rena." The shopkeeper said.

"Hi, Mr. Hearn." Rena said back. I saw the shopkeeper glance over at me.

"Giving yet another grand tour?" He asked her teasingly. Rena nodded.

"Yep!" She replied. "This is Ashton," she gestured to me, "That's Gyoro," her look went to the red dragon, "And that's Ururun." She finished finally, looking at the blue dragon. Mr. Hearn gave out a small, nervous laugh.

"I see…" He said somewhat quietly.

Before Rena could say anything back, I was suddenly lunged forward towards the small display case. My body had moved without my control, and soon Gyoro and Ururun were staring into the display case.

"H-hey, cut it out!" I yelled at them. They growled at me and kept staring into the display case. I decided it was futile to try and resist, so I too looked into the case.

Inside was a small helmet. I was confused as to why they took such interest in it.

"Buy it!" They both suddenly said in my head.

"Huh? What do you mean, 'buy it'?" I repeated out loud. Rena was soon behind me, looking over my shoulder with much interest.

"What's wrong, Ashton?" She asked curiously.

"These two are telling me to buy them this helmet." I told her. She blinked at me in confusion.

"Oh, you mean Gyoro and Ururun." She said, now getting my meaning. "Why do they want that?" She asked peculiarly. In my head they were saying such odd things about the item.

"Well, they say that it would be beneficial to them, and also me." I told her. I felt a bit awkward in saying that.

"Bene…ficial?" She said with confusion. I shrugged, not knowing myself how it could possibly be beneficial.

"They say that I should think of them and buy it for them." I said. I felt like their puppet…

"How much does it cost?" She asked, trying to get a view on the price tag.

"It costs…" I started, looking closely at the object, "10,000 Fol!" I shouted ludicrously. Rena took on a shocked expression, her mouth now agape.

"W-what?" She asked with the same ludicrous tone that I had used. "We can't afford that!" She said.

"Agreed." I said.

Gyoro and Ururun had a hissy-fit as Rena helped pry me from the store. In my mind they were saying that I didn't care for them and all sorts of persuading rubbish.

She continued to show me around the village. She took me over a small bridge and led me into the forest that was on the outside of the village. The sunlight pierced the open areas of the leaves, creating playful images on the damp ground. She stopped in front of a rather large tree.

"This…this is my favorite place to be." She told me. She turned and looked at me. "It's also where I met Claude for the first time."

I was a bit surprised at her words. She met Claude here, of all places? It sure did add more to that air of mysteriousness that surrounded him.

Rena sat down against the large tree and pulled her knees to her chest, hugging them.

"He saved my life here, with his 'Sword of Light.'"

I was truly surprised now. That's how they met? He saved her life? I was lost, not knowing what this whole thing was about. I peered down at her. She had her eyes closed, and I could only wonder if she was re-imagining the whole event. I stayed quiet and sat down next to her. I began to remember the fight I had with that strange creature in the Mountain Palace. I still had no answer as to how my wounds had vanished. I looked at her, as did Gyoro and Ururun. She opened her eyes and faced us as if she had felt all three of our questionable stares.

"What is it?" She asked me curiously. I didn't respond right away as her eyes once again entranced me. Gyoro and Ururun snapped me out of it though.

"Back at the Mountain Palace…" I started hesitantly, "…What did you do to me?" I felt as if I had come off a bit rude. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say it like that." I quickly added to reprimand my action.

"I'm sorry, I should have told you. I was worried about Claude and…" Her words grew hastier as she spoke, but she caught herself before she went off topic. "…I can heal people. I don't know why, I know it's strange…" She once again grew hasty but stopped herself. I laughed at her display.

"It's not strange," I told her truthfully, "I think it's a good thing. You can help people." I smiled, and so did she—that beautiful smile—and then we silently listened to the forest.

After a while she stood and led me out of the forest and towards the church. We entered, and if I had to guess, mass had just ended as some people were leaving. The preacher simply smiled at us before turning around and bowing his head in silent prayer. As I looked around the church, I was awestruck by all the vivid pictures made of glass. The one that really caught my eye, however, was the large picture of a blonde man garbed in red-trimmed white garments, holding up a shimmering sword. It was positioned above the altar at the front of the church.

"This here is our church." Rena said, pointing out the obvious. "It was just recently that our prayers were answered."

I looked at her, confused. "Your prayers have been answered?" I asked.

She nodded and smiled. "Yes," she began. "'The Warrior of Light' has come…Claude. He's going to save everyone!" She finished excitedly. I stared at her in disbelief.

"Is that so…?" I murmured.

I took a few steps forward, getting closer to better examine the picture above the altar. I couldn't keep my eyes off of the sword in the picture. It seemed so…

I unsheathed my right-hand sword and held it into the air, mimicking the man in the picture. Much to my surprise, the swords matched perfectly. I heard a loud gasp from behind me, and turned to look at Rena without lowering my sword. Her eyes were wide and shining with wonder. She brought her fingers to her lips before backing up a bit.

I lowered my sword, its tip catching a ray of sunlight as I brought it down. For a moment it shined just like the one in the picture. I walked up to her. For reasons I did not know, she was blushing.

"Rena?" I called her name with concern. She gasped suddenly and turned, walking towards the church's doors.

"Uhm, let's go." She responded tensely. I watched her leave, and soon after followed her. I glanced back at the picture one last time before leaving.

We made our way back towards her house, stopping one final time beforehand. Our final stop was at a small house just next door of the shop. Rena opened the door and led me in.

"Rena~!"

Two small children—one a boy, the other a girl—suddenly ran up to Rena, clinging to her legs.

"Yay, Rena!"

I chuckled at the sight.

"Hi there." She said sweetly to the small children. She had reached down and was running her hand through the girl's hair.

"Rena, Rena! Have you come to tell us a story?" The small boy asked. Rena shook her head.

"I'm sorry, I came to introduce my friends here." Rena responded. I took note that she referred to me as "friends" rather than "friend." The children looked up at me. "This here is Ashton, Gyoro, and Ururun." Rena told them in a sweet voice. They stared at me for a long time, and I began to feel a bit embarrassed.

"He's not at cool as Claude." The boy suddenly said, breaking the long silence. I was taken aback by his comment, and so was Rena.

"That's not very nice to say. Besides, you hardly even know him." She said to him, her voice no longer sweet.

"But he's funny lookin'." The small girl said, adding to my demoralization.

"Don't say such things!" Rena said in a chastising manner. The small children let go of Rena and backed up. They began to laugh, a teasing laugh.

"Rena got angry!" The small girl said in a singsong fashion.

Rena's face went red.

"She doesn't usually get angry, does she?" I asked, looking down at the small children.

"Rena has never gotten angry! Never-ever!" The small boy said through his laughter. I looked at Rena. Her face was very red, and for a moment I feared that she was actually very angry. My mind wandered to thoughts of Rena being mad and yelling at someone out of pure spite. It was an awkward thought, that's for sure. She suddenly grabbed my wrist and led me out the door.

"We have to get going now. Bye!" She said as we left.

Rena led me back to her house, stopping at her door. I could smell the aromas of various foods coming from inside. It smelled delicious. Rena looked at me, as if wanting to ask me something. Her eyes seemed to be examining me from head to foot. I spoke up, as she wasn't saying anything.

"What is it?" I asked her. She shook her head and opened the door.

"Come in, mother must be waiting." She said, ignoring my question.

I entered the house. The aromas of the foods grew much stronger as I entered, and suddenly I felt extremely hungry.

"Ah, Rena; you're back. How was it?"

I looked up at Rena's mother as she spoke. Rena pulled a chair out for me to sit, and then proceeded to sit on the chair next to me.

"Rather eventful." She responded to her mother. She passed me a plate.

"Please, help yourself." Her mother told me kindly.

Set on the table was a mountain of food: biscuits, turkey, ham, stews of many types, a variety of vegetables, gravy, and desserts. My mouth was hanging open in astonishment. She made all this food…that fast? I decided not to inquire about it, and instead filled my plate with a variety of food. It didn't last long, as Gyoro and Ururun rudely cleaned my plate before I even had a chance to take a bite.

"H-hey, cut it out!" I yelled at them. They grinned at me mischievously. Rena and her mother were laughing. I sighed multiple times as this process repeated until Gyoro and Ururun were full, which then finally I was able to eat after I loaded my plate for a fourth time. Rena was already finished by this time.

"How is the investigation going?"

"We haven't found out much…"

I set down my fork, my attention now set on the conversation between Rena and her mother.

"We had an audience with the king, but unfortunately he could only tell us what we already knew."

"Oh, I see."

"We are planning to set out for Herlie tomorrow so that we can cross to Lacour."

"Herlie? That's a rather far way away. What brings you out here?"

Rena turned towards me. "We ran into Ashton here while attempting to slay a dragon in Salva."

"A dragon? Isn't that a bit dangerous?" Her mother seemed worried that Rena was being reckless.

"That's right…we accidentally caused Ashton to become like this." Rena's voice was sympathetic. It suddenly fell silent and Rena's mother was staring at me. I felt a bit uneasy, so I spoke up, trying to get back onto the original topic.

"You said something about an investigation?" I said, reiterating on the past topic. Rena's mother nodded, her stare finally broken.

"Why yes; Rena and Claude are to investigate the Sorcery Globe. Did you not know?" She looked at me with confusion. I was shocked at what she had just said.

"The Sorcery Globe? That's a dangero—"

"Yes, but Claude is with me."

I looked at Rena with even more shock, my jaw hanging agape. She seemed rather confident about what she had just said. Claude was reckless, unskilled, and far from strong, from what I could tell. Did she really believe that he could protect her? Then again he had saved her life once…

"He's saved me twice already. I'm sure he'll protect me—he is the 'Warrior…" She stopped, her mouth still open. Her gaze fell upon my sheathed sword. "…Of Light'…"

Twice. He had saved her life twice. Not once, but twice. That air of mysteriousness that surrounded him just turned to fog.

"Speaking of Claude," Rena's mother started, looking side-to-side, "Where is he? He's usually with you, Rena."

Rena shrugged, not knowing the answer to her mother's question.

Suddenly the door opened.

"So this is Rena's house…!"

I recognized the voice. It was Celine. She came into the dining area with Claude right behind her. They both stopped when they saw us.

"Oh, I'm sorry darlings. Are we intruding?" Celine asked. There was no sign of concern in her voice.

"No, not at all. Please, sit down; there's plenty to go around." Rena's mother replied while shaking her head. Celine and Claude nodded, and both took seats at the table. They each took a plate, and with it a share of the mountain of food. "I see you've made yet another friend, Rena." Her mother looked at her with praise. Rena nodded. Her mother turned to Claude. "And how have you been, Claude?"

Claude set down the biscuit he was eating and swallowed. "Great. We haven't made much progress on our investigation, though." He told her.

"So I've been told." She said, glancing at Rena.

"Mother," Rena called, "Where is Mayor Regis?" She asked, changing the subject.

"The mayor is visiting with Alen on business." She replied.

From there the conversation seemed to dwindle. Claude, Celine, and I soon finished eating. It was getting late now, and Rena's mother offered us to stay the night there. It was a grand idea, seeing as this village had no inn. However, the grandness of this idea was soon diminished as I found out that there were only three beds—one of which was Rena's, and the other her mother's—which really only left one. I volunteered to sleep on the floor, since chairs would be uncomfortable for Gyoro and Ururun.

Sleep seemed to evade me again that night. I just couldn't get used to the hard floor, no matter how hard I tried. I closed my eyes tightly, yet again, trying to fall asleep. It didn't work, and instead I heard a quiet noise, followed by the scampering of feet down a staircase. Then I heard a voice.

"Mother!" It was Rena's voice.

"Rena? What are you doing up so late?" I heard her mother's voice now.

"Mother! Look!" Rena was saying. There was a short pause.

"Why do you have a sword? Rena, whose sword is that?"

I sat up now, and noticed that one of my swords was missing from the pile of my belongings. I stood and drew closer to the staircase, to better hear the conversation.

"It's Ashton's. Mother, look—it's the 'Sword of Light!'" I jumped a little at the title Rena had given my sword.

"But Rena…" I heard her mother begin to speak. Her voice seemed hesitant. "Ashton uses twin swords, right?"

"So?" Rena replied, not understanding what her mother was getting at. I knew where she was going with this.

"How can it be the 'Sword of Light' if it has a twin?"

There was a long pause after her mother's statement. She had a very good point. How could the fabled 'Sword of Light' have a twin? However, in this case she was both right _and_ wrong. My blades were not real twin swords. They may look the same, but one was a gift from my childhood friend Rosalia, while the other was a quickly-forged duplicate. The blacksmith had told me that creating a full-fledged duplicate would take years of perfect blacksmithing. Not that I actually believed it was the 'Sword of Light.' In all honesty, I wasn't quite sure I even believed in the legend.

"But…it matched the one in the picture—perfectly!" Rena said, her voice now firm with belief. "It has to be it!"

"He may deny it himself, but do you not believe in Claude anymore?"

Rena's mother shot back with that question as if not wanting to argue Rena's belief; her words perked my curiosity. Claude denied being the 'Warrior of Light?'

"I…" Rena couldn't reply. I could tell she was rather upset and decided to go downstairs. I descended the staircase. My intrusion surprised them both.

"Ashton!" Her mother exclaimed with a gasp. I turned towards Rena who was looking away with embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, Ashton." Rena said guiltily. "You heard all that, didn't you?" She asked, now looking at me with a sad face.

I nodded. "Yes, I heard every word." I told her honestly. I looked at her with sympathy; she truly believed in this 'Warrior of Light' legend. I thought it'd be better if I played along with it, in hopes of cheering her up. I reached out my hand and took my sword from the table. I held it into the air and once again posed like the man in the picture, and this time Gyoro and Ururun joined in, trying to look as chivalric as possible. "Who knows," I began, looking down at Rena now. "Maybe this is the 'Sword of Light' after all. And possibly I'm the 'Warrior of Light,' too!" I chuckled slightly at my proclamation. Rena's eyes lit up with joy, and she was suddenly filled with happiness. Her mother seemed relieved.

"Just maybe…" Her mother murmured.

"Ashton, the 'Warrior of Light.'" Rena stated. She then giggled. "I'm sorry," she started, "I've forgotten two of you. Ashton, Gyoro, and Ururun—the 'Warriors of Light!'" She said as if dubbing us so. I laughed with her.

Rena returned upstairs after saying goodnight and giving Gyoro and Ururun their goodnight kisses. Her mother had teased her, saying she had forgotten one. Rena had laughed sarcastically at her mother's comment and I had let out a small chuckle myself.

I too was about to return upstairs, but was stopped by her mother's voice.

"Thank-you, Ashton." She told me. I was a bit confused, but she proceeded to clarify what she meant. "For letting my daughter believe in you." She stopped momentarily and smiled. "She was so happy. Please, let her continue to believe in you, even if you aren't the 'Warrior of Light.'"

I nodded understandingly. "I will. I promise."

* * *

A.N. Has anyone else noticed that the picture of the 'Warrior of Light' in Star Ocean EX is holding a sword similar to the ones Ashton uses? It's a triangle-blade sword, exactly like his. You can see this if you watch the opening of Star Ocean EX. I'm sure it's also in an episode somewhere, but I can't remember which. Anyways, reviews are appreciated!


	5. Handkerchiefs and Miracles

A.N. This is the first chapter in the "new" category. By that I mean it was written after the year-long break I took. Bear in mind that I write this story extremely slowly. This chapter is roughly thirteen months old, haha. I really, really hope you enjoy this chapter, as it is my personal favorite so far!

Also, thanks for being my number one fan, Mysterious Loser. Seeing as you're the only one who has reviewed so far, you can't avoid having that title! Bwahaha.

* * *

And so we were now in Herlie, the port town of Cross. As expected from a port town, the air was cool and smelled like the sea. It wasn't too crowded of a town, although it was rather noisy compared to Arlia. Instead of going straight to Lacour, we decided to stay the day in town. It had been a long trip from Arlia, after all. We went our separate ways again, much like in Arlia.

This time was different though. Unlike Arlia, I had been here before and knew where everything was. I took some time to browse through the shops, but didn't find anything interesting until I walked by a certain house…

I stopped, watching a small handkerchief fall slowly towards the ground. It landed a few feet in front of me. I stood there, staring at it for a few minutes before looking up at an open window. A small girl was leaning out, peering down at the handkerchief. I stepped forward and picked it up.

"Is this yours? Did you drop it?" I asked, looking up at the small girl in the window with the handkerchief held up in my hand. She slowly nodded. "I see. Hold on, I'll bring it back to you." I told her. I entered the house and climbed a staircase, soon coming to the small girl's room. She was now in bed and sitting up, the covers loosely over her legs. I handed her the handkerchief, which she took reluctantly. "You should be more careful with that." I told her. She looked down at the bed and then nodded.

"Thank-you." She told me. It was quiet and almost sounded as if she didn't mean it. I stared at her for a moment, examining her. She seemed awfully upset, and at first I thought that she might have been frightened by my presence—thanks to the two on my back.

"Is something wrong?" I asked her caringly. She just sat there looking down without saying a word. I gave out a small sigh and then began to walk out of the room.

"Wait."

I turned back around to face the voice of that small girl.

"Uhm…could you stay for a while?"

Her tone was lonely and desperate. I looked at her for a few moments, and she averted my gaze as I did. I walked back and sat down in a chair that was set near her bed. There was an awkward silence, but soon I spoke up.

"So what's your name?" I asked her.

She immediately responded back, "Eleanor."

"I'm Ashton." I greeted back.

My gaze wandered to the nearby window. Outside I saw a few children running around in the plaza below.

"Well, Eleanor, why are you not outside playing with your friends on a day like this?" I turned to face her as I spoke. She suddenly looked sadder. I suppose that I either said something wrong or that something _was_ wrong.

"I can't go outside because I'm ill." She told me without looking up again. Her tone mimicked her expression. I thought she was overreacting a little; she looked much too upset to just be ill.

"Oh…well I hope you get better soon." I assured her. It didn't seem to help much seeing as her head drooped even more, her bangs now falling onto her face.

"I won't get better…" She murmured sobbingly. I was a bit shocked at her depressive comment.

"Of course you will!" I told her reassuringly. I once again seemed to say the wrong thing, as now I heard quiet sobs.

"I've been sick my entire life!" She suddenly shouted. I didn't know what to say, but her sadness seemed to be rubbing off on me. I felt a tinge of guilt run through me, but she shook off her sadness suddenly as if nothing happened.

"Please, tell me a story." She pleaded. Her words perked my curiosity.

"A story?" I asked, repeating her words. She nodded.

"Yes, I like to hear stories since I can't make my own."

Couldn't make her own stories? I pondered what she had just said momentarily before arriving at my conclusion: she meant that she liked to hear about people's lives as she really…

I stopped myself. It was too upsetting to think about.

"Hmm, a story…"

I changed my pondering to thinking of what to tell her. I looked at my shoulders—rather the two dragons—and soon came up with an idea.

"It's unusual for a guy to have two dragonheads sticking out of his back, wouldn't you say?" My question was obviously rhetorical. She giggled at my words, which was a good sign.

"You do look kinda' funny." She said honestly. I gave out a small laugh, even though I was taken aback by her comment.

"Well they weren't always there…" I began slowly. She sat up firmly now, and I could tell that she had her attention set firmly on me. "I was supposed to be a heroic dragon-slayer when I took on the job to slay these guys…" Gyoro and Ururun grunted at me, interrupting me. "But something else happened that day when I met an odd group of people. They were really odd. Their names were Claude, Celine, and Rena.

"Claude is young, and he wears these strange clothes. He's really mysterious too. I think he's hiding some big secret from us all.

"Celine isn't too strange I guess, though she could do with wearing some more clothing. She's a heraldic sorceress. She has a knack for calling everyone 'darling' and 'sweetheart.'

"And Rena is…" I paused momentarily, as if afraid to go on. "…Rena is young, beautiful, and the kindest girl I have ever met. She has this amazing smile that just makes everyone around her cheerful."

Eleanor giggled. "Does Big Brother Ashton like Rena?" I ignored her question and hastily got back to my story.

"These three I met while I was fighting the dragons. I'm telling you, if they hadn't of shown up, I wouldn't look like this right now!" I shouted my words in self-pity. Inside my mind I could hear the two on my back reminding me that I had a chance to free myself. Not to mention they were laughing aloud in the closest noise that resembled a laugh from dragons.

"It was a really awkward situation, but I'm glad I met them." I said, concluding my story. My words couldn't be truer because I believed that having these two on my back was an easy trial to endure for making such great friends.

Eleanor began to clap unexpectedly. I took it as a good sign that she enjoyed my story.

"Big Brother Ashton," She called out to me, "Where are your friends?"

I scratched the back of my head. "They're around here somewhere." I replied to her vaguely. It was then that I remembered about Rena's healing powers. It hadn't occurred to me until now that she may be able to cure Eleanor's illness! I stood up quickly and began to rush out of the room and down the stairs.

"I'll be right back!" I shouted as I ran. My words echoed throughout the house as I left.

Finding her proved to be more difficult than I had originally thought it would. I thought it'd be best to try the shops first, so I did that. I began searching them hastily, with no luck. Somehow that seemed ironic. I searched and searched until I finally spotted a long-eared, blue haired girl strolling the sides of the docks.

"Rena! Rena!" I called out to her, running towards her as I did. She turned to me and watched my approach, tilting her head slightly. I saw confusion on her face, but I wasted no time explaining and instead grabbed her wrist and dragged her along with me. I was surprised that she didn't hesitate. We arrived back at the child's house rather quickly, and I barged up the stairs pulling Rena along with me. When we finally made it to the room, I stopped and took a deep breath. Eleanor was eying us with an innocent expression, her hands with her fingers entwined, neatly placed in her lap. A faint smile formed on her lips.

"Big Brother Ashton, she's just like you said." Eleanor commented, obviously bringing up my previous description. "She's very beau-"

I suddenly let out a loud cough. It worked, at least I think. I'm pretty sure Rena didn't hear her.

I began to describe the situation to Rena.

"Eleanor is very sick," I began as I turned to look at the young girl. She was still sitting very proper-like in her bed, that innocent expression looking back at me. "She's been like this her whole life." I now turned to Rena. "I was hoping you could maybe use your powers to cure her!" My voice took on an exciting tone as I figured this would work out perfectly.

I noticed Rena's lips twist as an unsure expression filled her face. "All right, I'll give it a try." She said with a small nod.

She positioned herself next to the child and motioned for her to lay down. She did as she was told. Rena then placed one hand on the girl's forehead that was soon illuminated with that warm, green light that once saved me. I watched in suspense and prayed that it would work, but I had a feeling that it wouldn't from Rena's expression. The green light soon dissipated, and Rena removed her hand from the girl's forehead. Rena shook her head in disappointment.

"I'm sorry, I can't help her." She murmured in an upset tone that her face mimicked. Her brows furrowed as she gave me a fake smile.

The young girl sobbed, "It's okay. I know that I'm never going to get better."

"Don't say such things!"

We all turned our attention to the voice's owner, a mid-aged woman who stood in the door way.

"But mama!" Eleanor called out to the woman, and I now knew that it was obviously her mother.

"No buts! You'll get better." The woman said in a chiding manner.

The woman approached us and then greeted Rena and I.

"I'm sorry for Eleanor bothering you. She doesn't get many visitors..."

"Oh, not at all." I quickly replied. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Eleanor had shut her eyes tightly. It caused me to forget to introduce myself to the woman.

"I'm Rena, and this here is Ashton."

I snapped back into reality as Rena gestured at me for introductions.

"Nice to meet you." I said rather dumbly.

Her mother brushed past us.

"I'm sorry, but if you'll excuse us it's time for Eleanor to take her medicine." Her mother commented in a stern voice.

Medicine? What good is medicine if it doesn't help? I didn't quite understand, but from the woman's stern tone I got the vibe that she wanted us to leave. I gestured towards the door with my head for Rena to see, and we soon made our way to the door. However, a sudden gasp and Eleanor's mom shoving us out of the way in a hasty manner told us otherwise. She left in a rather panicked state. I heard more loud gasps coming from behind me and turned to see a heavily breathing, sweat-glazed, red-faced Eleanor lying in her bed. Her face was tensed up, and it was obvious that she was in pain.

"Eleanor!" I shouted as I quickly made my way to her bedside. She did not look well at all, and I didn't know what to do, so I began to shake her gently. Rena was soon beside me, and she grasped my arm to stop me. When I looked up at Rena, she was simply just shaking her head.

This wasn't right. Why did she have to suffer like this? And why was it that she got worse all of a sudden?

I continued to look at Rena's concerned face.

Could it be that her powers had triggered Eleanor's illness?

I cursed my bad luck once more. It always seemed that my ideas made things worse.

A few moments later, Eleanor's mother returned with a man. Judging from his outfit I figured it was a doctor. And I was right.

"Please get out of the way." The doctor rudely told us as he approached the bedside. We did as we were told.

The doctor placed his hand on Eleanor's forehead, and then moved his hand from her forehead to her cheeks. From her cheeks he began to feel her neck. He took two fingers and pushed into the girl's neck, and began counting in a hushed voice. I watched as he continued to examine her. He suddenly stopped and glanced at Rena and me before turning his attention to Eleanor's mother.

"It seems that something has triggered a rapid flare of her illness. Has anything happened to her today, or did anyone give her anything?"

The doctor's words brought a silence upon us all. Suddenly Eleanor's mother pointed harshly at us.

"Those two were with my daughter when I came home!" She shouted exasperatedly. I was taken aback by her comment, but understood how she could blame us. The doctor turned to us with a judging stare.

"What did you give her?" He asked calmly, although I could tell his calmness was forced.

I saw Rena was about to tell what happened, but I cut her off. "Nothing. We didn't do anything, I assure you. We just talked to her, that's all." I told him straightforwardly. Of course it was a lie, but I couldn't go telling him that Rena had tried to heal him using Heraldic arts. Healing didn't even exist in those! He eyed us suspiciously, but then returned his attention to the mother.

"Very well, then. I'm sorry to say that she doesn't have much time." He told her. Eleanor's mother let out a loud gasp, and tears soon began to well in her eyes.

"There has to be something we can do!" She pleaded, the tears now bursting forth. The doctor seemed to retreat into a deep thought. He placed a finger on his chin and closed his eyes momentarily.

"Yes, there might be." The doctor replied. He opened his eyes. "Although it's very dangerous." He added. We waited in suspense for the doctor to continue. "There is a herb in the medical world named 'Metox.' It is very powerful and can supposedly cure _any_ illness. If we could get that, then maybe it's possible to save her."

Rena spoke up rather quickly, "Where can we find this 'Metox'?" She asked. I could sense the guilt in her, much like it was building inside of me.

"Legend tells that the herb can be found past the nest of the 'King that Dances in the Sky.'" He replied.

I closed my eyes and thought. It was only a legend, which meant that it may not actually exist. But those words-'King that Dances in the Sky'-those were _very_ familiar. If it existed, it was past the Lasguss Mountains, in the dry lands. But could a plant such as this even grow in a barren wasteland?

My eyes opened and I turned to Rena who was already looking at me with thoughtful eyes. I could tell that she was thinking exactly the same as me, so I nodded.

"We'll go find this 'Metox.'" I announced, taking responsibility for the situation. The doctor seemed skeptical of my words, and I could tell he felt uneasy in my presence. His eyes were locked on the double-pair that stared back at him from atop my shoulders. Eleanor's mother, however, was overjoyed.

"Oh thank-you!" She exclaimed in rejoice.

And so it was settled. We now had a small detour on our hands, and I figured both Celine and Claude would not be so happy about it. We met them back at the inn, and discussed the situation with them.

"Oh that's terrible! That poor sweetheart!"

Celine was frantic about the whole ordeal.

"This is going to set us back even farther, but we can't just let the child die. I'll go."

Claude's words were bold, I'll give him that. But this was my responsibility; I caused the problem, now I had to fix it.

"I'm going as well. It's my fault anyways..." I stopped, trying to keep from feeling sorry for myself.

"Very well darlings." Celine started, "Rena and I will stay here and make preparations for when you get back. We'll leave for Lacour immediately once you are done." She finished. Her words were final, even though Rena disagreed.

"But-!"

"Celine is right. The more who go the slower our travel will be." Claude interrupted. He had made a valid point, but to be honest I felt rather uneasy about going alone with Claude. In my eyes, he wasn't the strongest of people. I would have much rather had Rena come along with her healing powers, or even Celine with her strong Heraldic Arts. But I suppose beggars can't be choosers, right? Time was of the essence, so we set out immediately.

Boy was it a _long_ trek. Tiresome too. We didn't stop to rest at all, I mean we couldn't. That girl was dying! We took our first step into the dry lands, ready and eager to find that herb-if it even existed. It occurred to me now that I had left that teeny part out when I told Celine and Claude of the situation. I hoped to God it existed, not only for Eleanor's sake, but for my own as well.

It was hot, as expected of a place of such nature. Ururun was making a big deal about the heat, but Gyoro seemed to enjoy it. I sided with Ururun though. This heat was killer. I brought my hand to my forehead to wipe the sweat from my brow, and then proceeded to drink from the canteen that I had. Suddenly I saw a blue dragon head in front of my face, giving me a blunt stare. I stared back.

"Oh-no-no-no! This water is for me and me only!" I said to his face. Ururun didn't seem to like it very much as he began to growl at me. I continued to stare, and soon an epic staring contest had begun. The dry heat of the desert made it rather difficult. I could feel my eyes burning as the vapor-less wind blew into them. It wasn't fair I tell you! He had the wind on his side. I soon blinked hard, the moisture coming back to my eyes. "Arrgh! Fine, you win! Here..." I poured a drink of water into the dragon's mouth as I spoke. He seemed very satisfied and removed himself from my view while snickering. I could hear Claude laughing too.

"What's so funny?" I threw the question at him harshly without even turning to him. He laughed some more.

"Oh, nothing. It's just watching you fight with those dragons is hilarious." He said truthfully.

I tried to see it from his point of view, and I suppose he was right. If I was watching some hopeless loser fight with dragon heads that were bursting out of his back I too would...

Nevermind.

"So what's this 'Metox' even look like?" Claude asked, changing the subject. I pondered it momentarily, but soon realized that I didn't know.

"I don't know." I told him. He stared at me rather peculiarly. "But I guess it's whatever plant is growing out here. Because honestly, I don't see anything but sand and rocks." I reassured him.

He shrugged. "I guess."

We continued to search the wasteland. It was beginning to cool down as the sun began to sink into the horizon.

Claude let himself collapse into a sitting position on the sandy ground. "We've been searching all day. Are you sure this stuff even exists?" He looked at me and panted as he asked that question. I felt myself become nervous.

"Uh, y-yeah, it exists." I replied. I too let myself fall like he did, though my descent wasn't as nice. I landed on something rather prickly. It made my face contort as it wasn't very pleasurable, to say the least. I quickly stood up to see what it was that I landed on, and much to my surprise...

"'Metox'!" I shouted in glee. Claude quickly scrambled to his feet.

"You found it?" He asked curiously.

Honestly I didn't know if it was 'Metox' or not. But it was a plant, it was small, and it was somehow growing in this godforsaken land. I grasped it with one hand and pulled on it, but the plant didn't budge. I tried pulling it out of the ground with both hands now, but still failed. I frowned.

"You know," I began as I turned my head to look at Claude over my shoulder, "You'd think that pulling a plant out of sand would be easy." I stated bluntly and with a sigh. He just gave me an awkward smile in response with a nervous laugh. I returned my attention to the plant, grasped it once more with both hands, and summoned all of my might to pull it out. And I did it! Just not that glorious. As the plant tore from its sandy shackles, I was sent hurdling backwards. I landed with a splash-like thud on the sand. It was rather demoralizing, but I quickly stood up and held my trophy-the plant-proudly in the air.

"Lucky day!" I shouted into the air. Then I cursed myself for that jinx I just put upon us.

The ground began to tremble violently, and the sand began to shift like waves in the ocean. It knocked both Claude and I down.

"An earthquake?" I heard Claude yell frantically. His question was followed by a loud screeching roar that pierced both of our ears. After that, everything seemed to settle down instantly. We both got on our feet and stayed still, holding our breath. It was as if nothing had happened.

"What was—"

An earth-shattering boom cut me off. Our eyes widened as we watched an enormous worm-like creature burst forth from the sand. Another earsplitting screech came from the beast, and it then crashed itself into the ground. Its action sent strong vibrations throughout the sand-like tidal waves- that swept Claude and I off our feet, causing us both to land on our backs. I shoved the 'Metox' into my canteen for safekeeping, and then clipped it to my belt. I rose to my feet once more, as did Claude.

"It's a big one." I heard Claude say. I turned to him.

"Yeah! It's a _big _one!" I shouted back at him, still a bit in shock at our current predicament.

The creature began to shake, and soon it thrust itself back into the air like it was when it first came out of the ground. I grasped my swords and pulled them from the sheaths on my belt. I readied myself for the oncoming battle. However it just stood there, pointing itself towards the now starry sky. So I charged.

"Ashton, wait!" I heard Claude call out to me, but I didn't listen. I delivered two strong blows that connected with clanking sounds before I retreated, yet it didn't even phase the monster.

"Its skin is too thick, I can't harm it!" I shouted in dismay. Its body seemed hard and almost metallic-like. I glanced over at Claude who appeared to be thinking.

"I have an idea." He told me. I simply wondered what it is that he could have come up with to fight a monster of such proportions. But he seemed rather confident.

At that second, the monster swooped down with its body, slinging itself in a horizontal motion at us. We both quickly fell and hugged the ground as the creature's large body passed just inches over us. The whooshing sound from the attack left me momentarily deaf, but my hearing soon came back.

"You can tell me anytime!" I shouted over to Claude who lay not far from me. We both rose again.

"Have Gyoro and Ururun keep attacking its hard shell alternatively with fire and ice!" He shouted back. So that was his master plan? I didn't understand it.

"Wh-why?" I asked him in a stuttered tone.

The monster then attacked again, this time slamming itself in between us. The shockwave sent us both hurdling and crashing into the sand. I suppose it wasn't the best time for questions, so I began to set his plan into motion.

As the creature lay there, I immediately told my two comrades to use their breath attacks on it. They listened, which was rather surprising to me. One-by-one they fired: fire, then ice, fire, then ice, over and over again until the creature finally rose. I didn't quite understand what I was doing, but I did notice something strange about the portion of shell that got bombarded; it had turned gray and had cracks shooting throughout it. I figured that I might be able to break it with another hard blow from my swords, though I'd have to wait for the beast to fall again to hit that spot.

The giant worm monster screeched once more, and then dove and burrowed into the sand. It was something both Claude and I hoped it would not do. We could see its movements, though, as the sand bulged upwards as it dug through it. Unfortunately, it was extremely fast for such a large beast. It came right at me with such great speed. I panicked and I couldn't get out of the way in time and—!

My arms shot outwards without my consent, grasping onto the creature as it popped out when it reached me. A loud boom could be heard when it collided with my hands, and the generated shockwave from the collision sunk the ground around me into a crater and blew sand outwards in a brilliant ring. My posture didn't falter the slightest. I couldn't believe my eyes! I had stopped the creature! But, there was no way I could have...!

My body moved once more, swiftly releasing the beast and dashing to its area of weakened shell. Two simultaneous slashes shattered the shell and left a large chunk of exposed flesh. My arms mercilessly slashed at the spot, blood spewing everywhere as my swords tore at the soft skin. Suddenly, my arms fell limp. I regained control over my body as well, however an immense pain shot through my body just like it had before. I then knew that all of this had been the work of Gyoro and Ururun once more. I was able to retreat a short ways before my body collapsed. I rolled onto my back to watch the beast rise once more, although it now had a gaping hole in its side. It screeched again. I thought I was done for, but then I saw Claude with his arm outstretched towards the beast. He held that strange L-shaped trinket in his hand, the end of it pointed at the hole in the beast's side. With the slightest movement of his index finger, I heard a soft click, followed by a blinding flash and deafening blast. I could do nothing but stare in awe at the glorious wave of energy that emitted in a linear fashion from that small trinket in his hand, heading straight towards the monster's bloody wound. It struck with perfect precision, tearing completely through the creature from one side to the other, and I could see the beam trailing off into the sky far behind it. It seemed to become another twinkling star in the sky as it dissipated slowly into a thinner and thinner line until it had completely vanished.

And then everything was quiet again.

Claude lowered the trinket, latching it on his belt once more. I began to wonder if that was the 'Sword of Light' that Rena had been mesmerized with. I had to admit, it was an extremely impressive weapon. It surely didn't seem like Heraldic Arts, that's for sure! Just who was Claude?

My train of thought was cut off as a loud crashing sound broke the silence of the night. My head instinctively turned to the source of the noise, which was the large worm-creature that had fallen over. A cloud of dust and sand still lingered around its fallen corpse. I took a deep breath and let it out, venting the stress that had built up inside me during the battle. I then tried to stand without much luck. I made it to my feet, but then collapsed as I tried to walk. My body was exhausted from the superhuman stunt that these two on my back had pulled. Although I felt more glad than I did angry because I'd be dead right now if they hadn't acted like they did. But regardless of my condition, I had to push forward; Eleanor's life was on the line here, and I had no time to dilly-doddle around here. So I stood once more. Claude was soon helping me. He took my arm and wrapped it around the backside of his neck as he bent over slightly to give me a small boost.

He turned to look at me. "If you need to rest, we can stop for a while." He commented as he examined my pain-stricken face.

I shook my head. "No, we don't have time to waste." I replied to him.

And so we moved on slowly. I sucked up the excruciating pain that I was experiencing with every step we took and strived forward.

We made it back to Herlie, although it took much more time than we had originally planned. Four days had passed since we first set out, and I was beginning to worry that we were too late. I was able to walk on my own now somewhat. It still hurt, but that didn't matter right now. I broke into a small run to Eleanor's house. Claude was close behind me telling me not to overexert myself. I made it to her house and rushed up the staircase.

"Ashton!"

I heard Rena call out to me as I entered the room. My attention immediately went to Eleanor who lay in her bed, the covers closely snuggled around her. She did not look well at all. I then shifted my gaze to Rena. She stood from the chair next to Eleanor's bed. I handed her the canteen and then collapsed into the chair that she was just sitting in. I watched as Claude entered the room, along with Eleanor's mother and the doctor.

"It's in the canteen." I said in a weak voice. It had just hit me that I hadn't slept since we departed, and neither did Claude. On top of that, my whole body was still sore from the event, especially my arms and legs.

"You actually found 'Metox?'" The doctor seemed baffled that we had. I nodded at his remark along with Claude. "Let me see it!" He demanded excitedly. Rena handed him the canteen. The doctor opened it and pulled the herb out by the stem that poked out of the canteen's opening. All of our hopes dropped upon seeing the herb; it was withered and brown.

"It can't be...!" Claude exclaimed with a gasp. Rena had covered her mouth with her hands in shock, and Eleanor's mother began to cry.

The doctor peered down into the canteen. He shook it gently, the water inside swooshing around as he did. He gave out a sigh of relief that his face's expression mimicked.

"It's all right." He said as he walked over to Eleanor. "The 'Metox' has dissolved into the water, so this should be enough." He lifted the girl's head slightly, and then began to slowly pour the faintly-green liquid into the girl's open mouth. We all watched in suspense. It seemed to slide down her throat easily. The last drop emptied itself from the canteen. "Now all we can do is wait." He concluded as he gently set the child back down.

And so we did.

I felt horrible. I let myself fall stomach-first onto one of the beds inside our room at the inn, the two dragons on my back slouching forward onto the soft mattress as I lay there. They were both asleep already. The aches were becoming overbearing once more, but it felt great just to lay down finally. I threw down my swords onto the floor and laid there for a moment. I almost succumbed to sleep when Celine's voice suddenly broke the silence.

"Did everything go okay, darling?" She asked me. I opened my eyes and turned my head to face her as I lay on the bed.

"Yeah, for now. Now all we can do is wait." I said, repeating the doctor's words from earlier. She seemed to be examining me as I looked into her concerned eyes.

"You look awful." She stated rather bluntly, though I could sense the concern in her voice.

I sighed and watched as she approached me. "I'm just tired." I lied. She stopped next to me.

"Well get some sleep then, darling." She told me caringly. She placed her hand on my arm as a gesture to get better, and as she did I felt pain shoot through my arm. I couldn't hide it, and it clearly was shown when I gave out a cry. She gasped and then began rolling my sleeve up. I watched, my arm trembling as she pulled the sleeve fully up. Two dark, purple bruises, each with an open sore, were on my arm; one on my forearm and the other near my shoulder.

"Wh-what is this?" She asked, looking straight at my face. I myself hadn't even seen them before. I _felt_ them, that's for sure. I knew what they were from, so I began to tell her about our encounter.

Rena entered the room with Claude just as I was finishing.

"Rena, come quickly sweetheart!" Celine called out to her. She walked over to us, along with Claude, and gasped when she noticed the wounds on my arm.

"Ashton, what did you—!"

"It was Gyoro and Ururun." Claude began as he cut Rena off. "They possessed him again while we were fighting this large monster." He finished. He examined the wounds on my arms, but he then rolled up my other sleeve. Two more identical wounds were revealed in the exact same spots on my opposite arm. "They're probably on his legs too."

Rena began to heal me. That soft green glow emitted from her hands when she placed them on the wounds. It was so soothing that it caused my body to relax like last time, and I soon fell into a deep slumber.

I awoke reluctantly and with a mumble. My eyes opened very slowly and everything was blurry at first. But my sight soon came back and I noticed that I was lying on my side in the same bed I had collapsed in, although now my head was resting on the soft pillow and the blankets were loosely covering me. I sat up and yawned while stretching. My body felt like it was brand new, and the aches and pains were completely gone. A warm smile curled onto my lips as I began to think of Rena. She sure was amazing...

"Oh, you're up I see."

I jumped as if I had got caught doing something I shouldn't had as I heard Claude's voice. I looked at him. "How long was I out?" I asked him curiously.

He stood from the bed that he was sitting on and proceeded towards the door. "Two days." He told me. I was shocked. I figured that it had only been a day at the most, but two days? Suddenly I began to worry about Eleanor.

"How's Eleanor doing?"

He stopped in the doorway and turned his head to look at me over his shoulder. He had a cheery smile on his face. "Come see for yourself."

I was given quite the greeting as I followed Claude to Eleanor's house.

"Big brother Ashton!" I heard the child call out. She came running up to me and jumped at me, giving me a big hug.

"Hey there!" I greeted back as I held her in the air and smiled. She gave me a big grin back and laughed too. "You're outside!" I said to her.

She seemed extremely happy. "Yep, yep!" She chirped. I set her down and noticed her mother approaching us. She bowed suddenly.

"Oh thank-you!" She exclaimed with joy. I smiled at her as she continued. "My daughter is finally able to see the outside world." She explained. "I don't know how I can ever thank you enough!"

I waved my hands in the air and smiled nervously. "It's not necessary, really! I was glad to help." I told her with a small, nervous laugh. I then felt something tug at my sleeve. I peered down at Eleanor who was beaming at me.

"Will big brother play with me?" She looked at me with wide eyes as she asked, but before I could respond Claude intervened.

"We have to go, Ashton. Rena and Celine are waiting for us on the ship already." He explained with an apologetic tone. I understood, and then kneeled to Eleanor's height.

"I'm sorry, Eleanor." I began. "But I have to go now. I'll make sure to visit you soon!" I told her. I smiled again and so did she. "When I do, I want to hear a story from you."

"Okay then, it's a promise." She said in glee. She would finally be able to make her own story.

I returned to the inn and gathered my things, then made my way to the ship. I stopped and examined the three who leaned on the railing of the ship and watched me. I smiled at the group: Celine, Claude, and Rena; and then I boarded the ship, and we embarked for Lacour.

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A.N. Again, this is my personal favorite chapter, and I really hope you enjoyed it. Expect a possible and probable long wait for chapter six, even though it's already complete. This is because chapter seven is not complete, and is going to be long as heck.


	6. Not Another Herb Hunt

A.N. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! What a glorious day this is, where people gather to eat such a large sum and variety of gourmet food. I cannot wait to dig into said food! All right, anyways; here is chapter six of Ashton's story, which is centered around the town of Linga. I tend to base one chapter around one place in the game, if you hadn't noticed. I hope to keep it like this if possible (which means chapter seven, based on the Lacour Tournament, is going to be long as heck). Anyways, should you enjoy the whole Linga part of the game or anime, I have another Star Ocean story titled _Unexpected_ that may interest you. It is based on the anime portion of Linga. It was written a few years back, so...yeah. Should you choose to read it, I hope you enjoy it. I also hope that you enjoy this chapter!

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AoKanojo: Thanks for all of your reviewing and input. I greatly appreciate it! Do not worry about Dias, because he is going to be crazily amazing and strong. I agree that game-mechanic-wise, Ashton and possibly Claude (albeit I never played as Claude) are better fighters. Unless, of course, you take into consideration Dias's rapid-fire Air Slash.

As for chapter three in regards to your input about the conversation between Xande and the dragons, I didn't know how to do it. Heh, I've been writing this story for years now, and took a long break right at the beginning of chapter five. I came to that point and thought "This is a first-person story through Ashton's eyes. How do I allow him to recollect a conversation after he's been possessed?" As in the anime, and game also I believe, when he becomes possessed he has no recollection of what happened during that time. I plan to fix this, and already put into motion said fix with chapter five. It's necessary, because like you said, he's just that much cooler when possessed! I hope you continue to enjoy the story!

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Mysterious Loser: Thank-you for your support! I do not blame you for missing the update, as they are so rare. I should be the one shamed because of that.

"Male bonding" was the idea behind having Claude and Ashton go searching for the 'Metox.' As for a trick up my sleeve...I honestly don't know. Possibly, I just haven't thought about it yet. This chapter introduces Precis, and while I'm against the Ashton/Precis pairing (to some extent), she's still one of my favorite characters. She'll get some attention, although how she'll bond with Ashton I have yet to decide.

The opening of Star Ocean EX anime, where the 'Warrior of Light' is holding up that sword that is identical to Ashton's, is actually the inspiration behind this story! I have some ideas in mind for that, but it's far too early to set those ideas in stone. I hope you continue to enjoy the story!

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It was quite the trek from port town Hilton to the town of Linga. We passed some pretty strange landmarks on our way here as well.

There was this strange field of snow a ways from Linga. It seemed pretty unnatural to me, but I guess with a mountain range being right there that it could be possible. Closer to the town—in fact just opposite of it—was this cavern. We had walked right past the entrance on our way to the town. It was eerie and sent chills down my spine.

But I suppose it's best not to think of such trivial things at this time.

Our group now stood outside the house of one supposedly very-well-known linguist. Celine cleared her throat and then proceeded to knock on the door.

After a moment…

…there was no answer.

She knocked on the door once more, this time louder.

And after a moment…

…there was still no answer.

Celine turned around to face us all. Nervousness was quite evident in her demeanor. We all exchanged glances before returning our attention to her. Before any of us had a chance to speak, the door behind Celine suddenly opened.

"May I help you?" A sort of annoyed voice asked.

Celine swirled around to face the owner of the voice, "Ah, yes. We're here to see the Linguist Specialist that lives here." She replied.

I couldn't see the person, as Celine was in the way.

"I'm sorry, but he is very busy. You'll need an appointment if you wish to see him." It was that annoyed voice again.

"But it's urgent. We have these Ancient Texts—"

"I said 'you'll need an appointment.'" The annoyed voice had interrupted Celine, quoting itself.

"Then can we make one for as soon as possible?" Celine asked nicely.

Never had I heard Celine talk like this. Usually she was calling people "darling," or "sweetheart." I heard the flipping of pages, which I assumed was some sort of book.

"Of course. The closest opening is in three months. I'll put you down," the voice suddenly stopped momentarily, "What was your name again?" It rudely asked.

"I can't wait that long!" Celine fumed. Her voice had risen.

"Then you have no business here." The voice retorted.

I heard the clasping of a book closing, followed by the slamming of the previously open door. Celine turned around, glaring at us with frustration.

"The nerve of…!" Celine shouted angrily, but stopped her tantrum and regained her composure. She sighed and looked down at the ground.

"What should we do?" Rena innocently asked. She seemed to be directing her question towards Claude, as she was looking at him.

"Well, we certainly can't wait three months." Claude replied. That was pretty obvious, of course. Time was of the essence.

For some reason all of them were looking at me. I began to feel nervous, as if I was expected of something. I laughed slightly and shrugged to try to ease the tension building inside of me.

"Hey! Get back here!"

We all turned our attention to the young girl who was shouting and chasing after a strange…

Okay, I didn't know what it was. Honestly! It was small, round-like, and seemed to be made of metal. I've seen a lot of strange things in my life, but _nothing_ as strange as…never mind. Apparently I've forgotten that I'm the embodiment of "strange."

Just as the young girl had gotten within arms-reach of the "thing," she tripped and fell flat on her face. The "thing" sped away from her and out of view as she lay there twitching. She then rose and caught glimpse of us, her face turning beet red. I stared at her. My staring was joined by the three around me. Err, I mean the five around me. Within seconds the young girl was running off in the direction that the "thing" had went. Our eyes followed her until she was completely out of site. And then there was an awkward silence until I accidently spoke my mind.

"She was kind of cute." I blurted out. I soon regretted it.

"Oh…" Rena began in a disappointed tone, "…So that's your type of girl." She finished, her head drooping.

I turned away from her and the rest of the group to hide my reddening face, "Don't read so much into what I say." I spat out hastily. I heard a sigh and figured it was Rena. I realized suddenly that my statement just made things worse, and had a hunch as to what she was about to say next.

"Was that a…?" Claude suddenly spoke in a rhetorical manner. He then ran off in the direction that the girl had gone; and like the girl, we watched him until he was out of view.

"Apparently that's Claude's type of girl as well, sweetheart." Celine teased and then laughed at her own words.

Rena crossed her arms over her chest and turned her head away from us, "Hmph!"

Celine and Rena soon went off in the direction that Claude, the girl, and that "thing" had gone. I watched until they were out of view—like I had watched all the others do. I didn't know what was with everyone running around that corner, but I decided not to be pulled into the bandwagon. I began to walk around the town, checking out the various places in the north of Linga, which was where most of the houses were. There were a few stores, though. Nothing seemed to catch my attention until my eyes fell upon a barrel that sat next to one of the stores. For reasons unknown to me, I felt an overwhelming urge to get closer to the barrel. And so I did. I inched closer and closer and closer to the barrel until I was standing right in front of it. My right hand reached out unwillingly and "felt" the barrel. My hand handled it as if it were some sacred item of unimaginable value. My left hand was then gently placed on the other side of the barrel. I began to feel uneasy with myself. Soon I was hugging the barrel, caressing the barrel.

Caressing the barrel.

Caressing…the…barrel.

I forced myself backwards and fell flat on my back, my eyes snapping shut as I hit the ground. When my eyes opened, I saw two familiar dragon heads glaring at me. A voice suddenly filled my head.

"What are you doing?" The voice of Gyoro screamed in my head.

"What do you mean 'what are you doing?'" I spoke out loud. I hadn't really noticed that I had.

"The Barrel!" Ururun's voice desperately cried within my mind.

My body was unwillingly flung at the barrel, my arms embracing it once more. I concentrated hard and pushed away, falling onto my back again.

"What is wrong with you two?" I asked, my two eyes locking onto the four eyes that peered down at me, "It's just a barrel!" I yelled.

My body was thrown to the barrel again.

"'Just a barrel'?" Their voices cried in unison within my mind, "It's _Barrel_!"

These dragons were insane I tell you! Insane!

I began to feel like even more of a freak-show hugging this barrel in public. I pried my right arm from the barrel and unsheathed one of my swords. With a strong swoop of my blade I shattered the barrel into pieces. I felt myself regain full control of my body, and then sheathed my sword and stood proudly.

"Aha! Victory!" I shouted into the air. I hastily glanced around at the motionless people who were staring at me awkwardly. I gave out a nervous laugh and began to walk away slowly.

"You destroyed Barrel!" The unison voices of the dragons from inside of my mind cried.

Gyoro and Ururun began to bite at me. I started to run, my arms flailing in the air like a madman as I screamed for mercy. I then ran into something—rather someone—and toppled over on top of them, knocking us both to the ground.

I immediately rose and noticed who it was, "Claude!" I stated in shock. Luckily for me, this little accident had stopped Gyoro and Ururun's insanity tantrum. Claude sat up and rubbed his head.

"Claude," I heard a girl's voice call out, "Who is this klutz?" the voice asked.

I felt taken aback and looked at the girl who was standing next to Claude, peering down at him. It was that girl from before.

Claude stood up. "This is Ashton." He told her.

She looked at me with examining eyes. "Hmm…" She trailed off momentarily.

As she examined me, I examined her.

She was like I had said, she was cute. She had long blonde hair that was tied back into a ponytail. Her eyes were deep and green like emeralds. She was short, skinny, and her pink clothing reminded me of Claude's clothing, in a way. She had a backpack on, and I could only imagine as to what it was holding.

She looked back at Claude, "You're way cooler." She stated.

I felt my mouth hang agape. That was the second time someone said Claude was cooler than me.

Claude let out a modest laugh as he scratched his cheek. The girl began to tug on his sleeve, "Come-on, Claudey! I want to show you the cool stuff at my house!" She said cheerfully.

Claudey? Oh man, that's gold! I began to snicker. I watched with a big smile as she dragged Claude with her. I turned around and figured I'd let the two be. As I turned, I was suddenly met face-to-face with Celine, almost running into her like I had with Claude. That would have been a rather peculiar incident…

"Ashton, darling." She greeted me. We were rather close to each other. I wanted to step back a bit, but I didn't want to offend her, so I stayed put. "I've found a way to get a meeting with that linguist." She stated with a small smile. My curiosity was perked. I too wanted to know what those texts said, as I was able to read a few words in them with the dragons' help.

"Oh?" I asked in an interested manner.

She nodded in reply, and then began to explain to me about a pharmacist who lived in this town. His name was Bowman, and he happened to be very good friends with the linguist, whose name was Keith.

"All we have to do is go into the Linga Sanctuary and get this herb called 'Clarisage.' The sanctuary is right outside of town." She explained to me.

I suddenly felt uneasy. There were two reasons for this. One reason was that this 'sanctuary' was probably that extremely eerie cave that we passed upon our way here. The second reason was that the last time I had went hunting for a herb—which wasn't that long ago—I was attacked by a ginormous and probably man-eating monster.

"Right!" I shouted, "Let's go get that herb!" I said in a very proud yet sarcastic tone.

Celine smiled softly at me, "I knew I could count on you, darling." She stated politely. Either she didn't catch my sarcasm and resentment to her idea, or she just didn't care. Either way, I was now being led out of town and towards the Linga Sanctuary with Celine.

"By the way," Celine started as we were heading towards the sanctuary, "Where's Claude?" She asked. She was looking at me now.

I debated upon telling her the truth. Images of Claude and that girl were in my head, of her dragging him around town seemingly against his will. But I knew that Claude was secretly enjoying it.

"He's probably somewhere around Linga." I told her. I decided to keep the rest to myself.

"Oh." She simply replied.

We were now at the entrance to the sanctuary. I stopped, but Celine didn't. She walked right in as if she had done this a thousand times.

"Don't fall behind now, darling." I heard her say after she had disappeared within the shadows of the sanctuary. I gulped and then entered, soon catching up to her.

The chills I originally had running down my spine when we first passed this place did not give me a wrong message. This place was _creepy_ to the max. The caverns within the sanctuary were huge and it almost seemed that they were unnatural. Not just because of the shape and size, but because of this seemingly supernatural red glow that emitted from the cavern walls, floor, and ceiling. It sure took away the need for a light source, however freaky it may have been.

We hadn't trekked all that far into the sanctuary when we came upon a compilation of growing plants against a lone stalagmite. Celine approached the plants and kneeled next to them, taking a good look at them.

"This is just Lavander." She told me. She stood and began to travel deeper into the sanctuary. I followed her again.

It seemed to me that maybe Celine _had_ done this a thousand times. She was going forth in this place as if used to it. She seemed to know her wild plants and herbs as well. I suddenly recalled our conversation about the Ancient Texts in Cross Kingdom. She had told me she found them within Cross Cave with the help of Claude and Rena. She did say she was a treasure hunter, right?

"This isn't what we're looking for either."

My train of thought was halted by Celine's voice. She stood from kneeling by another outgrowth of plants. She walked on, and once again I followed.

"So, where's Rena anyways?" I randomly asked. I thought it'd be good to make some sort of conversation between us, other than the occasional talk of our current objective. She inquired about Claude, so why not do the same about Rena?

"She's back in Linga." She told me straightforwardly. Well, I had figured that much.

"Why isn't she with us?" I asked. She turned her head to look at me now. I tucked my hands behind my head as I walked. My elbows were forcing Gyoro and Ururun to have to pull themselves back slightly.

"She's looking for Claude." She stated. Her manner wasn't as straightforward this time.

"Oh." I replied simply without looking at her. In my mind I was picturing a scene of Rena finding Claude with that young and perky teenage girl. It sure would be funny.

Celine and I went further into the Linga Sanctuary. We crossed over some small, cavernous bridges that added to the unnatural feeling of the place. We went down—as well as up—some slopes of both small and large in size. Deeper and deeper into the sanctuary we went. More strange plants were found, but none of them were the one we needed, or so Celine had told me. Suddenly, we came to a dead end. It was probably also the creepiest place within this creepy place. It had a purple glow to it, as well as a red glow. What was wrong with this place…?

My eyes caught sight of something in the center of the room. I squinted and focused on it, and soon found out what it was.

"Is that a treasure chest?" I asked surprised. It surely looked like one to me. It was box-like, ornate, and somewhat shiny. I ran up to it.

"Ashton, darling! Wait!" I heard Celine call out to me, but I didn't stop. I placed my hands on the lid of the chest and began to lift it.

"Aw, come-on. There's probably loads of treasure insi—" I stopped my claim as my eyes rested upon the empty inside of the chest. I cursed my bad luck and then turned to face Celine.

"It's empty! What a gibe!" I shouted angrily. Celine seemed rather nervous. It confused me, so I decided to ask about it, "What's wrong?"

Celine was peering around the room. She stood defensively as if waiting for something to happen. I stood there watching her for a moment, and then she became calm again. She began to walk towards me, and then past me towards the farthest wall of the dead end. I guess I hadn't seen it before, but there were plants growing there. They seemed far different than the rest we had encountered in here. I saw her kneel down and pick a few. She then placed them in a small tan bag that she had looped around her shoulder, sort of like a purse.

There was a sudden slithering noise. It sounded slithery, that is. It was squishy sounding to be more precise. Seconds after I had heard the sound, three slug-like creatures fell from the cavern ceiling and landed right behind Celine. I immediately armed myself with my swords.

"Celine, behind you!" I called out to her. She didn't move though. She sat there motionless. "Ce—"

"Firebolt!" I heard her shout, cutting off my second attempt to get her attention. Three small flames swirled in the air behind her, quickly converging into three fireballs. They were then launched at the slug-like creatures, one fireball at each. All three fireballs connected with their targets, smoldering them and pushing them away from Celine. She then stood and turned around to face the slug-like creatures.

I was rather impressed at her feat; she was able to use such a simple spell more effectively than normal. I smirked; the slug-like creatures hadn't seemed to notice me yet. I drew closer to one, shifted my grip on my right-hand sword into a thrusting style, lifted it above the slug-like creature's slimy body, and came down hard onto it. The sword tore into its weak flesh, and I then drew my arm back, the blade cutting it open like a knife against butter. The slug-like creature's body fell limp as its guts and blood spilled out from the gaping hole in its back. I pulled out my sword and swung it in the air towards the ground to get the goop off of it.

"Energy Arrow!" I heard Celine yell. I turned to my right to see the manifestation of purple energy surrounding one of the slug-like creatures. The purple energy assimilated the form of sharp needles that then converged onto the slug-like creature in unison. They pierced the slug-like creature while also zapping it with an electrical force before vanishing into crackles of purple energy that were then absorbed into the ground. The slug-like creature had ceased all movement during the onslaught of Celine's spell, and now lay limp on the cavern floor.

"Ashton, watch out, darling!"

"Huh?" I turned around at Celine's plead, only to see the large open mouth of the third and last slug-like creature.

It came at me rather fast for resembling a slug. I dropped my swords and threw out my arms in a defensive manner, grasping the top and bottom of its mouth in an attempt to keep it from closing on my body. Surprisingly, it was strong too. My arms began to give out on me.

"Guys!" I shouted, referring to the two dragons on my back, "Do something!" I commanded. The slug-like creature's mouth was overpowering me quickly, and now my head and upper torso were inside of its mouth. It was disgusting! Luckily, it only lasted a few seconds before Gyoro and Ururun blasted the inside of the slug-like creature with fire and ice, instantly killing it. I threw the slug-like creature off of me, and then fell down into a sitting position. "Whew, that was a close one." I stated with relief.

Celine and I backtracked our way out of the Linga Sanctuary after a short rest. I was glad to see the sun, even though it hurt my eyes at first. We soon after arrived in Linga and met up with a concerned Rena.

"I can't find Claude anywhere…" She stated. She sounded slightly depressed.

Celine began to dig through her small tan bag, "I'm sure he's here somewhere, sweetheart." She assured her. Celine took one 'Clarisage' from her bag and presented it to Rena, "We found the herb for Bowman. Now we can get these texts translated!" She exclaimed with joy.

Rena smiled slightly, and then we were off to see this Bowman character that Celine kept mentioning.

I followed the two girls into the pharmacy. It was a small store, but nice. There were two long shelves off to the right of the store, each shelf filled with various sizes and shapes of bottles and containers that were marked with different colored stickers. I turned my head to the front counter. Behind it stood an older man; he had brownish hair, deep eyes, and quite honestly, he wasn't one I'd take for being a pharmacist. I guess you can't judge a book by its cover though.

"You've returned." The man stated. His voice was a little scratchy. I assumed this was Bowman.

"Yes, and we have the 'Clarisage,' darling." Celine replied. I found it a little awkward that she called him 'darling.' Sure, she calls us it, but she hardly knew this man.

"Let me see what you've got there." Bowman said as he brought his hands to the counter top. I saw a ring on his right hand's ring-finger. He was married. I now found it extremely awkward that Celine had called him 'darling,' even if it was just her normal accent.

Celine handed him the single herb that she had removed from her bag earlier to show Rena. Bowman took it and examined it for mere seconds before raising his head.

"A deal's a deal." He told her. "I'll take you to see Keith right away. That is, after you give me the rest of the 'Clarisage' that you're hiding in your bag there." He eyed Celine as he spoke.

Celine frowned in disapproval, "Fine…" She murmured. She opened her bag, reached into it, and brought out a hefty handful of 'Clarisage' that she then dumped onto the counter. Bowman smirked and took his hand and slid the 'Clarisage' towards him and off the counter top. It fell into a bin that he was holding with his other hand. He then placed the bin on a shelf behind him and then came out from behind the counter.

"Let's go." He stated as he walked past us.

Like previously, we stood outside of the linguist's house. This time, however, Bowman was standing at the door.

Bowman knocked on the door loudly and shouted, "Keith! Keith, open up!"

There was a pause, followed shortly after by the opening of the door. Then there was that voice again.

"Oh, Bowman!" The voice seemed surprised. It wasn't annoyed either like it had been with Celine. "Are you here to see the professor?" It asked.

Bowman nodded and then backed away from the door. I finally got to see this mystery man who caused us such trouble. He wasn't much of anything really. He was small, skinny, short, geeky with glasses…pretty much had "wimp" written all over him. I let out a small sigh. This man had caused us all this trouble? Really?

"Yes, I am. And I'm bringing these fine people with me." Bowman said with a sort of authority in his voice. The other man looked at us all.

"Right…" he said, "Come, this way."

We were all led into the house and then up a staircase.

"Keith."

"Ah, Bowman!"

There was a small reunion between the two that lasted maybe three seconds. Then they were back to business.

"What's the deal in bringing this mob into my study?" Keith suddenly asked. Keith reminded me of his assistant that caused us all the trouble, except he wasn't short.

"These people here need you to take a look at something." Bowman replied. He then began to take his leave, and Celine took over.

"We have these Ancient Texts that we found in Cross Cave." Celine stated. She held up the old tome. It seemed to me that the linguist was interested.

"Cross Cave, you say?" He rudely took the tome from Celine's hands and began to peer through it. "Interesting. Yes, yes. This will take quite some time…" He trailed off and then looked back up at Celine. "Come back in a few months and I'll have it completely deciphered." Keith stated.

A Few months? Well, that was a waste of time. We couldn't wait around for a few months before, and we certainly couldn't do it now.

"…I see." Celine spoke quietly.

"Now if you'll please leave me alone, I have a lot of work to do." Keith said, his finger tapping the cover of the tome as he spoke.

We left the linguist's house and stood outside of it, for a third time.

"What will you do now, Celine?" Rena suddenly asked. Her words caught my attention. I didn't know that Celine was just "tagging along" with Claude and Rena. I thought she was formally part of the group.

"I'm going to come with you, sweetheart." Celine replied. She didn't even ask, like I had. Then again I didn't ask at first either. I waited for Celine to ask if it was "all right." But she never did.

"That's great to hear!" Rena exclaimed. She seemed really happy. Celine smiled at her.

"We should go find Claude." Celine commented.

But instead, Claude found us.

"Precis, really! I have to go now…!"

All three of…all five of us turned to see Claude slowly approaching us, his left arm extended out behind him with that young girl trying to pull him back.

"But Claudey!" She pleaded as she inevitably tried to keep him from going. Claude was dragging the girl with him not of his will. It looked like she just wouldn't let go of his wrist.

"No buts! Rena and the others are probably worried." He stated between his gritting teeth.

"Oh, R-E-N-A, huh?" The girl spat out in a sarcastic and fuming tone. She let go of Claude's wrist and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Yes, Rena." Claude stated simply.

The girl looked away from Claude, "What's so special about this Rena girl, huh?" She demanded to know.

"Claude!"

Rena ran up to him as she called out his name. Celine and I stayed put and watched the scene unfold. I began to wonder if it would turn out like I had imagined earlier.

"There you are." She said as she hugged him.

"_Ahem_!" What are _you_ doing to _my_ Claudey?" The girl asked. Her tone was full of hidden rage.

Rena turned to the girl, "Uhm…" I got the vibe that she didn't really know how to reply to the girl. Knowing Rena, she probably didn't even see a problem.

"Precis, calm down." Claude commanded. So that was her name. Well she was cute, but she was also feisty as heck.

"Claudey!" Precis called out, "How can you let her touch you like that?" She cried out.

I began to laugh out loud, and Celine even joined me.

"But she's just hugging me?" Claude asked in his own defense.

Precis blinked, and for a moment there was silence. But then she exploded. "Just hugging you?" She screamed, "She's all over you!"

"Claude, wh-what's she t-talking about…?" Rena's voice carried with it a sense of sadness. Poor Rena, she just didn't understand I guess. I didn't want her to be upset, so I decided now was the time to step in. I entered the scene.

"Don't give me that innocent spiel! You're a—"

"That's enough!" I shouted, interrupting the nasty name Precis was about to use. She quickly turned to me.

"You stay out of this, you fre—"

I glared at her—we glared at her—all six of our eyes angrily locking with her own two. She became silent and gulped. I knew what she was about to call Rena, and I certainly knew what she was about to call me. I would not have it!

"Come-on. Claude, Rena—let's go." My words were final, and with them we left the girl, Precis, alone. She didn't chase after Claude. I turned my head and peered out of the corner of my eye at her as we walked away. She was sulking away in the opposite direction with her head down. Suddenly…I felt guilty.

It was now too late in the evening to leave Linga for Lacour Kingdom. We would be staying the night here, at Bowman's house of all places. He had offered Celine and the rest of our group to stay at his home. Celine immediately accepted for all of us, even without our consent.

Celine decided to retire at midnight. She left the living room, leaving Claude, Rena, Bowman, and I. The fireplace was lit. Its quiet crackling echoed throughout the room and filled it with warmth. It reminded me a lot of our stay at Celine's home in Mars.

I slouched back against the overly-soft cushions of the couch and stretched my arms out before relaxing completely.

"So the Lacour Tournament of Arms is in three days…" I said. I didn't really intend on starting a conversation, but apparently that's what I did.

"The Lacour Tournament of Arms, eh?" Bowman asked rhetorically as he repeated me. "Do you plan to participate?"

Now that I was thinking about it, I never had participated in the tournament before. I suppose I could, but with my bad luck I'd probably get knocked out in the first round, or worse—somehow get disqualified in the first round.

"The Lacour Tournament of Arms?" Claude inquired, repeating Bowman who had repeated me. "What's that?" He asked.

I looked at Claude carefully. It surprised me that he didn't know what the Lacour Tournament of Arms was. He was quite a mystery. I decided to explain it for him.

"It's a tournament held yearly in Lacour," I began simply, "All of the world's greatest fighters gather there to fight for the title of strongest." I finished. I then let out a rather long yawn.

Rena suddenly spoke up, "I remember Dias mentioning it before. Dias…" She stopped momentarily, "I'm sure he'll be there." She said, although confidence was lacking in her claim.

I still didn't know who this Dias guy was. Rena seemed to keep him secretive almost. I wanted to ask about him, but kept quiet. It really wasn't any of my business, however curious I may be.

Bowman suddenly stood. "Well I'm going to retire for the night. Enjoy your stay." He turned and walked out of the room with these words.

I stayed in the living room, sitting on the couch and staring into the fireplace. Soon Rena had left the room, followed shortly after by Claude leaving. Still, I sat staring at the fire that soon exhausted itself, becoming a smoldering pile of ashes. The room was filled with darkness upon its extinguish. Feeling that the night was old, I closed my eyes and let sleep overcome me.

I woke up early in the morning. I stretched as I sat up on the couch. Three yawns came soon after, one of which was mine, and the two others from the dragons on my back. I sat there for a moment, letting my body wake up fully before I stood. Nobody else seemed to be awake in the house. Everything was silent, other than a few birds chirping outside. I decided to take a walk around Linga to pass the time.

Outside was peaceful. The sun shined down with its radiant morning-white glow. The wind had taken the form of a small and tranquil breeze. As I walked, I glanced around at the near-desolate morning streets of Linga.

"Hey!"

Why couldn't it have been completely desolate?

"You're Ashton, right?"

I knew that voice. I turned around to face the short, thin, perky blonde-haired teenager that the voice belonged to: Precis.

"The one and only…" I trailed off, realizing that in some deep technical way I really wasn't "one and only."

"Look," She began as she tried to look me in my eyes, but she failed to do so and looked down at her feet, "I'm sorry, all right?" She finished. Wow, where have I heard that one before? Oh yes: Claude. I assumed she was apologizing for her crude behavior from yesterday. I didn't take her for one to apologize; and even though it was an empty apology, I accepted it. The guilt from earlier seemed to vanish as I accepted the apology.

"It's fine." I told her. Her head quickly rose after I said that.

"R-Really?" She asked. She had stuttered, and her voice was filled with uncertainty. I simply nodded in response. I then invited her to walk with me.

"Soooo…"

I turned my head to the right to look at Precis who had just spoken. She seemed to be glancing back-and-forth at my shoulders; although I guessed what she was really looking at was the two dragons.

"…How did you become such a freak-show?" She asked me bluntly.

I grunted at what she had called me, and threw her an unpleasant glare. She just smiled at me. I sighed and then looked forward as we walked.

"It was Claude's fault." I lied to her. Well, it really wasn't a lie. Just not _all_ of the truth.

She began snickering.

"What's so funny?" I asked in an annoyed manner.

She didn't respond, and instead changed the subject.

"Claude told me you all are investigating the Sorcery Globe." She stepped out in front of me after she finished. I stopped walking and looked at her awkwardly.

"Yes, we are." I gave her a simple reply. She placed her hands on her hips and leaned forward slightly, looking at me with confidence.

"I want to go with him—err, I mean all of you." Her look of confidence had waned during her statement. It was replaced with a nervous smile.

I scratched the back of my head, "Well that's not really up to me." I said.

She stood straight again and removed her hands from her hips.

"Who is it 'up to' then?" She asked, emphasizing the end of her question.

"Claude." I answered.

She jumped into the air and shouted a high-pitched "Yay."

"Oh," I started. She looked up at me, still joyful, "Rena too." I finished. Her joy slowly faded.

"…Rena…" She murmured. From her tone I got the vibe of hate.

Precis followed me back to Bowman's house. It had been about an hour since I had woken up, and it seemed everyone was awake and ready to leave. In fact, Rena, Claude, and Celine were all approaching me as I was approaching the house. I decided to stop, and soon they were all in front of me.

"Good morning, everyone." I greeted them kindly.

"Morning—Ashton, Precis." Claude had greeted back.

"Mornin' Claude." Precis greeted as well. I noted that she hadn't called him "Claudey."

"Are you ready to head out, darling?" Celine asked me.

I nodded. "Yes, but first," I looked over at Precis, "Precis here has something she'd like to ask Claude."

Precis cleared her throat. "I'd like to go with all of you and help on your investigation of the Sorcery Globe." Her statement was calm and controlled. I also took note of this. I didn't really know her that well, but this all seemed "un-Precis-like."

Celine, Claude, and Rena all seemed shocked.

"What? Are you…are you serious?" Claude asked in disbelief.

Precis nodded. "You know that I understand you the most, Claude." She stated confidently.

"Is that so?" Rena quickly asked. I could tell she was rather flustered. Precis didn't acknowledge Rena's question and continued on.

"Nobody else will understand machines and technology." Precis stated.

Whatever she was talking about, she was apparently right. I hadn't the slightest clue what she was talking about, and by the looks of it, Rena and Celine hadn't either. Their faces were plastered with confusion.

"That's true, but…" Claude said truthfully, "It'll be dangerous. Are you really sure?" He looked at her with seriousness.

Precis nodded, "Positive!" She replied confidently.

Claude, Rena, Celine, and I all exchanged glances. There was a short silence between us all, but then Claude spoke up.

"Only if your father approves of this." He told her. Rena glanced at Claude as he said this.

"He already has." Precis said with a big smile on her face.

Claude scratched the back of his head and smiled. "Well, guess you're coming with us then." He said.

At his words, Precis threw herself at Claude and embraced him. "Oh, thank-you Claudey! I'm so glad!" She shouted with glee.

Now that seemed more "Precis-like." I wondered…was it all just an act to get her way?

* * *

A.N. Thanks for reading, and I wish you all a very happy (and tasty) Thanksgiving!


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